More detail on this person: William C. "Bill"¥
Kruckemeyer Jr., a Vietnam veteran, age 69,
passed away on Thursday, September 15, 2016
from suspected effects of Agent Orange. Much
heartfelt thanks go to the many Dayton VA Medical
Center's compassionate, caring medical, nursing
and support staff who supported Bill through his
numerous hospitalizations over the past seven
years as his terminal illness of sarcoidosis
slowly took away his health and life. Bill was
born on July 2, 1947 in St. Louis to the late
William and Lorraine Kruckemeyer. He is survived
by his wife of 47 years, Margaret Kruckemeyer RN;
brother, Joe Kruckemeyer of Joplin, MO;
step-mother, Helen Kruckemeyer of Springfield,
MO; mother-in-law, Melvina Jo Walters of St.
Louis, MO, and sister-in-law; Linda L. Maurer of
Washington CH, OH.
Bill entered military service by joining the
University of Missouri at Rolla, MO's ROTC program
in 1965 attaining his pilot's license and rising
to the rank of cadet LTC within Pershing Rifles'
unit while attaining his degree in mechanical
engineering. During his eight years of service
(1970-1978), he served as an U.S. Army aviation
maintenance officer/test pilot rising to the level
of senior aviator and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Not only did he rescue shot down helicopter crews
in Vietnam, he also was the main pilot who served
during Ohio's great 1978 blizzard in air rescue
when U.S. Army support was emergently needed.
Upon his arrival to Dayton to start a 30 year
engineering career with Delphi Chassis, first in
test engineering, then 16 years later as a senior
project engineer, he also used his love of flying
by sharing his talents and skills by serving as a
private instrument flight instructor, back up
helicopter pilot to WHIO's former Chopper 7 news
service, and volunteer for the American Veteran's
Heritage Center's flying and technical support
activities.
Bill's friends best remember him as a tall,
strong, humble guy who dedicated his life to
service to his church, veterans caring activities,
and his research development work for Delphi
Chasis. After being inducted into Delphi's
Inventor Hall of Fame in 2000, the Affiliate
Societies Council of the Engineering Science
Foundation of Dayton, The Dayton Foundation,
honored him on Feb 21, 2002 with their Outstanding
Professional Achievement Award for his
"professional accomplishment and enhancing the
stature of the engineering and scientific
professions." Prior to his enforced retirement in
2009, Bill was recognized for the creation and
development/implementation of 75 US Patents and
nearly 50 trade secrets for Delphi.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 PM on
October 8, 2016 at the historic landmark, Home's
Protestant Chapel at the Dayton VA Medical Center
Campus, 4100 West Third Street, Dayton, OH
45428. A committal service will be held at 11:00
AM on Monday, October 10, 2016 at Dayton
National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations
may be made to www.americanveteransheritage.org
(AVHC P.O. Box 28098 Dayton, OH 45428) or
Dayton VA Medical Center Hospice program,
Building 320, 4100 West Third St. Dayton, OH
45428.
This information was last updated 10/08/2016
Please send additions or corrections to: HQ@vhpa.org VHPA Headquarters
Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list
Return to VHPA web site
Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association