William Alfred Andersen

June 19, 1933 - May 01, 2016

William Alfred Andersen was born on June 19, 1933 to Alfred William Andersen and Vandis Gladys (Michalak) Andersen in Worcester, Massachusetts. Bill grew up in Shrewsbury, graduated from Shrewsbury High School where he was very active in school activities and served as class president. He attended Norwich University (ROTC) and then transferred to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1956 with degree in Mechanical Engineering. Bill married Joan Rivernider and together they had two children; Kirsten and William. He served with the Army Signal Corps at Yuma Test Station, AZ and Fort Huachuca, AZ, Asbury Park, NJ and Cape Canaveral, FL. He worked in the airline industry for the remainder of his career, a self proclaimed "corporate gypsy" travelling worldwide and living in many locations within the US, retiring from Pratt & Whitney Canada in August of 1992. Bill met Loretta Fitzgerald on a singles cruise in the Bahamas in 1993 and they married and moved to Rapid City, SD in June of 1996. Bill designed and built a solar heated home on the south facing wall of Box Elder Canyon (Nemo Road). In 2003 he crashed his Falco airplane in Ohio on a cross country flight and sustained a back injury resulting in paraplegia. Bill and Loretta moved to Rindge, NH in 2008 to be closer to family. He died at home on May 1, 2016 with Loretta by his side, after a long decline in health.

Bill is survived by his wife of 20 years, Loretta Andersen of Rindge, NH; his step brother, Richard Jewell of South Portland, ME; his step sister, Jean Jewell Mickelson (and her three children); his daughter, Kirsten Andersen of Phoenix, AZ; his son, William Andersen of Memphis, TN, his step son, Sean Fitzgerald of Townsend, MA; his step son, Ryan Fitzgerald, of Franklin, MA, two grandchildren: Kirsten Andersen of Memphis, TN and Gunther Andersen of Jacksonville, FL as well as several cousins, aunts and uncles in the Shrewsbury, MA area.