William Beecher

BEECHER
WILLIAM BEECHER
William "Bill" Beecher, 90, passed away peacefully surrounded by family members on February 9, 2024, in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Born on May 27, 1933, in Framingham, Massachusetts, Bill earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and a master's degree from the Columbia School of Journalism. He worked his way through college and graduate school and served a short tour in the U.S. Army before embarking on a career in journalism. Focusing on foreign and domestic policy, national security and defense, Bill was a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent who reported for The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as serving as the Washington bureau chief for The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Bill broke a number of significant stories during his career, including the story exposing the U.S. secret bombing of Cambodia on the front page of the New York Times on May 9, 1969. Bill's reporting led him on frequent lengthy assignments in the former Soviet Union, Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, including five trips to Vietnam during that war. On one of those trips, his helicopter was shot down over the Mekong Delta. On another assignment, a single engine Cessna in which he was flying over the Sinai desert had its engine knocked out by a rifle shot. In both cases skillful pilots were able to land safely.

Bill also served two years at the Pentagon as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (Acting) and ten years as Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. After retiring, Bill served as an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Maryland. He authored eight novels inspired by his love of national security and defense analysis, as well as a memoir and a cookbook.

While Bill will be remembered for his storied journalistic career, he was treasured by his family for the love, wit, compassion and generosity he shared so freely. He took great pride and interest in each of their lives. His was a life well-lived.

Bill is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Eileen Beecher. He is survived by his four daughters and their spouses: Debbie Spartin (Peter), Diane Beecher (Mark Morris), Lori Beecher (Marc Burstein), and Nancy Kotz (Ken), and 10 adoring grandchildren: Sam, Ally, Jack, Caroline, May, Will, Jay, Andy, Michael and Nick.

A private family burial service will take place. Memorial contributions may be made to fund a journalism scholarship in Bill's memory at the Columbia School of Journalism (https://journalism.givenow.columbia.edu/#) or at the University of Maryland (go.umd.edu/WMBeecher).