William Edward Wiley

William Edward Wiley, P.E., beloved husband of the late Esther Mehring Wiley, died peacefully on October 27, 2013 with his daughter Carole and granddaughter Jessie by his side.

Mr. Wiley, resident of Waltham for 79 years, was born in Newburyport, MA on September 4, 1919 to Jesse Hyde Wiley and Jessie Dunbrack Wiley. He was a direct descendent of the original pilgrims' Deerfield community. He grew up on Waltham's south side not far from the Waltham Watch Factory where his father made gold pocket watches. Bill attended Waltham Schools, played guard on the varsity football team, was active in scouting and graduated in 1937. He was a member of the Class of 1941 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, pledged to Lambda Chi Alpha and graduated with degree in Civil Engineering. Bill immediately went to work for Turner Construction Company building a new defense facility for General Electric in Lynn. Turner would also employ him to help build the original John Hancock building in Boston. Sunday, December 7, 1941 Bill was working at the Lynn facility when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He and his sister Audrey, a nurse, went directly to the recruitment office to sign up but he was delayed as his position at the new defense facility was considered essential. In 1942, he received a direct commission into the newly formed 70th U.S. Naval Construction Battalion (the "Seabees") and saw active service in two theaters: North Africa and the Pacific. Lieutenent Wiley was in command of a 330 foot Landing Ship Tank, loaded with ammunition, across the Atlantic as part of Operation Torch to the newly captured Algerian port of Oran. In the Pacific, Bill designed the Navy's first operational armored bulldozers and went into action with them in Saipan and Okinawa.

Following the War, Bill returned to Waltham to continue his engineering career with Turner. He later worked for Master Builders, a division of Martin Marietta Corporation, for 30 years. In 1946, at the First Congregational Church, he married Ms. Esther Mehring, an English Literature scholar who taught a range of subjects besides English literature, writing and grammar ( (Latin, French, German) at Waltham High. She also coached the drama club and later earned another masters degree to become a media specialist. Esther always said that she married her Big Bill (he was 6'2") because he made her laugh, a talent Bill shared with everybody earning him a wide spread reputation as "a great guy". Bill was interested in people and apparently never met a man he didn't like. Though with women he was boyishly shy. With his family he was sweet and caring, attentive and always amusing. Bill and Es had two children, William E. Wiley, Jr., who pre-deceased his father, and Carole E. Wiley, of Weston, MA. Mr. Wiley was very active in the community holding office in the Piety Corner Club, the Outlook Club and the First Congregational Church. He held a life-long passion for canoeing on the Charles River and Squam Lake. Mr. Wiley is survived by his daughter and five grandchidren all residing in Massachusetts:: William E. Wiley, III of Bellingham, John Wiley of Stoneham, Katherine Wiley of Bellingham, Jessie Hagger of Natick and Jeremy Hagger of Worcester. Private remembrance held at a later date.