Bill Sconce obituary and memorial date (February 13th at Boire Field, Nashua, NH)

[Warren Luebkeman]

wish i had seen this earlier.  bill was one of the first people i had met
when venturing into the Linux community in NH.  he was wearing a red
brimmed hat at the lug meeting in peterborough, probably around 2007.  had
a chance to spend some time with him at a conference in maine, he was
presenting on python.  at the end of the conference he was looking for a
ride to the local airport to fly himself home.

reading this makes me wish i had gotten to know him more.  seems as though
he had as full of a life as anyone could hope for.

On Sat, Jan 16, 2016 at 2:11 PM, maddog at li.org <jonhall80 at comcast.net>
wrote:

> Bill (William Joseph) Sconce, age 72, Lyndeborough, NH, died on January 5,
> 2016 at Lahey Hospital in Burlington, MA. The cause was a cerebral
> hemorrhage.  He was a good man.
>
>
> Bill was born April 19, 1943 in Indianapolis, IN, and came home to the
> House on the Hill in Edinburgh, IN. Bill grew up there with his brother
> David, who predeceased him. His parents were Eva Mae and Joseph Byce
> Sconce.  Bill soon became a proficient Spelunker and surveyor in the caves
> of Indiana and Kentucky, and a motorcycle enthusiast. Graduating from
> Culver Military Academy, where he earned his Amateur Radio License, he
> received a Fulbright scholarship and rode his Norton motorcycle to CalTech
> in San Francisco, CA where he studied Physics and worked in a
> crystalography laboratory. He was drafted during the Vietnam war protests
> at that school and served in Taigu Korea, where he studied IBM Cobol and
> the Korean language, and rode a Honda 90 motorcycle in the mountains. He
> returned to Louisville, KY and began a long career in computer science and
> founded his company Industrial Specialities.  He met the love of his life
> in Louisville, Janet Levy, and with her encouragement he completed his
> dream of becoming a pilot, holding a Commercial, Instrument, and Instructor
> license. He continued studies at University of Louisville in linguistics
> and computer science. Bill & Janet moved to NH in 1979 for Bill to graduate
> from being Symposium Coordinator for DECUS to assume the position of
> Product Manager for the RSTS Group at Digital Equipment Corporation. Bill
> worked for and was layed off from DEC, Compaq, and Hewlett Packard, at
> which point he revived his corporation, named it In Spec, Inc. and divided
> his time between software engineering and flight instruction.  Bill was a
> devoted supporter of GPL and "free" Linux software and the Python
> programming language. Bill was a member of the Vintage BMW Motorcycle
> Owners, Ltd., the BMW MOVer Motorcycle Club of Vermont, the Contoocook
> Valley Radio Club,  a life member of the National Speological Society and
> the American Radio Relay League. He supported the EAA and was a Regional
> Judge for aerobatic competitions for IAC for many years. He loved aviation,
> including hot air ballooning and skydiving.  He participated in Young
> Eagles at Boire Airport in Nashua, NH and enjoyed teaching young people to
> fly. He taught spins in his Cessna Aerobat. And he was a Quiet Birdman.  He
> was a member of the Rex Stout Wolfepack Book Club and The Wodehouse
> Society.   Bill loved theatre, classical and rock music, and especially
> lately, attending Dr. David Landman's Poetry Nights of medieval poetry in
> Lexington, MA.
>
>
> He loved fixing things and if there were no parts available for a project
> he promptly made them himself on his metal lathe, or just used his
> ingenuity to create something needed.
>
>
> He loved cigars, scotch, butter, reading, airplanes, old test equipment,
> Paris, BMWs, his red convertible Cabriolet with red earmuffs, and his big
> black 4 cylinder 4WD truck, bird watching (outwitting squirrels), camping,
> hiking on Pitcher Mountain, William Blake, and he suffered not fools. One
> of his favorite lead-ins: "As an engineer..."
>
>
> Bill is survived by his wife, Janet Levy Sconce, his sister-in-law, June
> Levy and her family, and many dear friends. Bill was a kind and loving
> "daddy" to Virgil Fox and RDB, the cats of his home. Thanks to "The
> Committee" and especially Donna Shea, Chris Levin, Ken Hamel, Donna
> Giovannini, Tom Steger, Michelle Donovan, Simon Hutchings, John & Cathy
> Gubernat and the surgeons, doctors, and nurses at Lahey Hospital. The
> family is grateful to all of his many friends who offered support and love.
>
>
> There will be a memorial for Bill on February 13, 11:00-2:00  at Nashua Jet
> Aviation located on Boire Field in Nashua, NH. Call Air Direct Airways,
> (603) 882-5606 for more information.
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>



-- 
warren
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