Mr. William Warren Goessel

William Warren Goessel, 90, died in the early hours of May 29, 2018, surrounded by family at home. Bill, as he was known to one and all, came into the world at the same time as talking pictures. He was born in Beloit, a hardscrabble industrial Wisconsin town mired in the Great Depression. His father (Edward) was a foundry man; his mother (nee Anna Frank,) was a loving housewife. His spiritual path was determined early in life. At four years of age, confident and eager, he was on his way to church. If you had gone to Sunday School every week in 1931, you got a sack of candy at Christmas Eve. He knew his lines for the pageant by heart; he hadn’t missed a Sunday. The confections were, to his young mind, in the bag. A careless brother let go of his hand, just as a large Packard turned the icy corner. They claimed it dragged him for blocks. When he awoke from his coma, it was 1932. His face had been rearranged (bullies would call him “Charley McCarthy” for years,) and he had a whopper of a headache. Still, despite life’s adversity, he was confident in his ultimate reward. Alas, the local Lutherans were pretty strict: no show on Sunday? No bag of candy. He renounced organized religion from that point forward. But he was a cheerful, intelligent youngster, as well as a fine athlete. He taught himself golf with borrowed clubs on the public links, and became both city and state champion. He was the only sibling in his family to elect to go to college, graduating from Carthage in 1949. He spent a single semester at the University of Wisconsin, however, and one day watched a co-ed touch football game. The quarterback of the team was one Nancy Christie, a knockout with violet eyes to die for. She was already “pinned” by some rich man’s son. It didn’t matter. He was a goner. He spent years pursuing her, interrupted only by the Korean War. True love won out, and upon returning to the mainland, he married his Nancy in September of 1953. Now, he needed to support her. His degree had qualified him to be a math teacher and school coach, but after the war, such positions were scarce. So he started work in the Beloit Iron Works – the very same foundry in which his father toiled. Astute eyes quickly determined that this was no ordinary foundry man, however, and less than 10 years later he was the youngest Vice President in the company’s history. He climbed the corporate ladder for decades, finally ending up heading Harnischfeger Industries, which came to acquire Beloit Corporation, his original worksite. Harvard Business School case studies were written on his management success; full two page spreads in the Wall Street Journal followed. It was gratifying, but seemed to mean little to him. His main passion in life was his beloved Nancy. He retired in 1992, spending the winters in Naples, Florida and the summers in the Berkshires, where he had been stationed twice, in 1967 and 1972. But it was in the Berkshires that he experienced his only true loss. A terrible automobile accident caused by his sudden loss of consciousness resulted in the immediate death of his wife, who was in the passenger seat. When he arrived at the hospital, the trauma work up revealed an advanced bladder cancer. With the aid of his daughters, Christie (Goessel) Shore and Tracey Goessel (Bader), a pharmacist and physician, respectively, he fought the good fight for two years. But his heart wasn’t really in it. He had the loving support of John Atkins, his household manager/driver, Tom Donaldson, his groundskeeper, and Julie Ouillette, his housekeeper, as well as that of hundreds of friends. Three grandchildren, Riley Shore, and Molly and Sam Doyle, tried gamely to keep him in good cheer. But he really wanted only Nancy. In the early morning hours of May 29, 2018, he breathed his last, and they are finally reunited. Services will be at the Church on the Hill in Lenox on Thursday May 31, at 10:00 am with a reception immediately afterwards, location to be announced at the service. In lieu of flowers, donations will be welcomed at Hospice Care in the Berkshires, 877 South Street, Suite 1W, Pittsfield, MA 01201. No bags of candy, please. It is a little late for that.

Mr. William Warren Goessel

October 24, 1927 - May 29, 2018