William Kessel Obituary
William "Bill" Joseph Kessel
June 12, 1946 - March 17, 2015
LAKE OSWEGO, OR - William "Bill" Joseph Kessel, age 68, went home to be with the lord on March 17th 2015. He passed away peacefully at "The Hospice Place" in Mt. Pleasant, S. Carolina due to Alzheimer's. Long time resident of Oregon, William recently moved to be cared for by family in S. Carolina and Arizona.
William was born in Salem, Oregon on June 12th 1946 to John and Gwendolyn Kessel. After Graduating from North Salem High School in 1964, he attended Oregon State University and later earned an associate's degree in Electronics at Portland Community College. William was employed at Biotronics Engineering for 20 years as an electronic test engineer. During his employment at Biotronics, William worked on life saving and enhancing implantable devices, such as first internal defibrillator pacemakers.
William married his high school sweet heart "Diane" on August 26th, 1967 and they moved to the Portland area in 1970 where they began raising their three children, John, Chris and Melissa. They remained faithfully married for 45 years until the passing of Diane in 2012. William and Diane were avid travelers taking trips to Mexico, Hawaii, the Bahamas, and many destinations across the United States.
From a young age William enjoyed the outdoors. As a youth, William was involved with the Boy Scouts of America and became an Eagle Scout. When his boys began scouting, he became assistant Scoutmaster and moved on up to Scoutmaster. He rigorously attended all troop meetings and scout activities. William lived his life through the values and morals of the scout oath everyday.
William led a lifelong commitment of service to his community, family, and numerous organizations. For over 40 years, William was a member of the Knights of Columbus "council 3818" at Our Lady of the Lake parish. He avidly participated in church events, and was a member of the church choir.
He was always helpful to those in need and donated to many different charities. Bill was also known for his dependability, never giving up on his family and always willing to be there in your time of need. His compassion, charisma and devotion were a few of his significant qualities that impacted anyone he came in contact with.
William bravely endured the loss of his wife "Diane", eldest Son John (JR), nephew Nathan Ferder, and parents John and Gwen Kessel.
William is survived by his brothers Richard (Mary) of Salem, Oregon, Don (Joyce) of Tyler, Texas; Son Chris (Jenny) of Summerville, SC; Daughter, Melissa (Adam) Griffith of Kingman, AZ; and six grandchildren.
A funeral Service to celebrate his life will be held at the Queen of Peace Parish on Monday, April 17th 2015 at 10:00 a.m. with a reception to follow.
Published by The Statesman Journal on Mar. 25, 2015.