Obituary : William L. Boggess
William L. "Bill" Boggess Sr., aged 81 years, of Katama in Edgartown died Saturday, July 4, at the Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis.
Mr. Boggess was born on June 8, 1928 in Morristown, N.J., the son of the Rev. Elwood C. and Elsie (Nunneker) Boggess. Mr. Boggess grew up in Mendham and West Orange, N.J. He attended Mendham Borough School and was a 1946 graduate of Kent School in Kent, Conn. He also attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
In 1950, Mr. Boggess was honorably discharged from the New Jersey Army National Guard, after three years service as an aircraft technician, maintaining and repairing light observation aircraft. Mr. Boggess was also trained as an armor crewman on Sherman tanks. Mr. Boggess's stint in the National Guard was the beginning of a lifelong love of all types of aircraft, in particular Stearman biplanes, which were his favorite.
He was a devout, lifelong communicant of the Episcopal Church, having begun as an acolyte at the age of four. His father, the Rev. Elwood Boggess, was an ordained Episcopal priest for 67 years. At the time of his death, Mr. Boggess was a communicant and very active member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Edgartown.
Mr. Boggess's work life began at an early age and ran the gamut of building railroad track for the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, and as a teenager operating the switch tower in the Hoboken, N.J. rail yard, culminating in a professional driving career spanning 29 years with Greyhound Lines, and finally retiring in 1994 from Vermont Transit lines, logging over two million accident-free miles.
Mr. Boggess resided in Ohio, New Jersey, Vermont, and New Hampshire, retiring to Martha's Vineyard in 1996 with his wife Betsy.
On June 22, 1963 Mr. Boggess married Betsy Rudolph of Edgartown.
Mr. Boggess had many hobbies, but especially enjoyed reading, woodworking, mechanical projects, woodcarving, the sea, aircraft and wooden boats.
Mr. Boggess was also a member of the AUSA, a patron of the N.R.A. and a lifelong member of the Fraternal Order of the Elks. He was also an avid football fan, and especially fond of Dartmouth College football. When he moved to Martha's Vineyard, he became a staunch supporter of the Vineyarders.
