WESTWOOD — William Denglar Strohmeier, 93, of South Dartmouth and Westwood, died Thursday September 24, 2009, at Fox Hill Village in Westwood.
Born March 20, 1916, in Newton to Bertram and Edith Strohmeier, he was a graduate of Monson Academy where his father was headmaster, and Amherst College Class of 1936.
Bill's lifelong love of flying began in his early teens. While attending Amherst, he helped establish the Amherst Flying Club, the New England Intercollegiate Flying Club and was the first President of the National Intercollegiate Flying Club. Upon graduation, he began his aviation career with Taylor Aircraft Co., that soon became Piper Aircraft Corporation.
In 1940, he married Beatrice Torrey Chesterman whom he would ask for a date by flying over the Smith College Campus and shouting down to her, a form of communication frowned upon by college authorities.
During World War II, Bill served as an Army Air Forces flight instructor at Hawthorne Field, Orangeburg, S.C., teaching U.S. Army and French cadets in open cockpit bi planes. In his spare time he served as editor of "The Sportsman Pilot at War."
With the end of hostilities, Bill moved to Darien, CT and entered the advertising and public relations field in New York City specializing in aviation. His prolific writings appeared in all major aviation journals and he co-authored two books: "You Can Learn To Fly," Prentice Hall and "Seaplane Operations and Flying," Pitman. He took great pleasure when asked if he knew how to fly a seaplane by answering "Yes, I helped write the book." Bill continued to fly all of his life until his final flight on May 16th 2003, exactly 65 years to the day of his first solo flight.
Bill's initial company, Strohmeier Associates expanded to Davis, Parsons and Strohmeier and then Friedlich, Fearon and Strohmeier. With the second merger, the New York Times quipped "Strohmeier is still behind the ampersand." Piper Aircraft remained one of his principle accounts and was accorded much of the credit for making Piper Cub a household name. When Airbus Industries was formed in the early 70's by the French, Germans, British and Spanish to build large transport aircraft, Strohmeier's firm was chosen to handle the worldwide advertising. In 1982, Bill retired as Senior Vice President of D'Arcy, McManus and Masius, the then 11th largest ad agency in the world.
In the early 1980's Bill retired and moved with his wife Bea to South Dartmouth where he became active in the local Old Dartmouth Historical Society, New Bedford Whaling Museum, as a trustee, treasurer, and chairman of Annual Giving. He also served as Senior Warden at St. Aidan's Chapel and President of the Mishaum Point Association. Bill enjoyed golf, tennis, sailing and skiing, but most importantly he loved his family and friends.
In 2006, Bill was honored with the very prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilots Award by the FAA for 7 decades of flying with a perfect flight record.
He is survived by his son, Peter Torrey Strohmeier and his wife, Nancy of Portsmouth, N.H.; his daughter, Judith Strohmeier Reece and her husband, Brook of Chestnut Hill, Ma.; and four grandchildren, Torrey Shawe, Lindsay Warnke, Brooks Reece and Nicholas Reece; and one great-grandson Nathaniel Shawe.
Bill's memorial service will take place on Saturday the 3rd of October 2009, at St. Aidan's Chapel, 188 Smith Neck Rd., So. Dartmouth, Ma., at 11 A.M.
Remembrances in his name may be made to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, Ma. 02740.
Arrangements with the Wilson Chapel, 479 County St., New Bedford, Ma