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1926 William 2022

William Engel

1926 — January 1, 2022

William Engel died July 22, 2022, shortly after 12:00 noon, at the Hallmark Nursing Facility at the age of 96. He survived his wife, Dorothy Carolyn Adams Engel, who died July 7, 2005. Bill will join his wife and be buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Colorado.

Bill and Dorothy had three children; Jennie, Peter and Grace and also raised their grandson Lance as a son. Bill was blessed with 5 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Bill was a second-generation immigrant.  His parents came to America on a ship sailing through Ellis Island.  John Engel came from The Netherlands and worked as a house painter and his wife Elsie came from Germany.

Bill grew up in an apartment in Silver Lake, West Harrison, New York.  In the winter when the lake was frozen Bill would get out on the lake with his speed skates and effortlessly sail over the ice like an Olympic speed skater.

Bill joined the Marines from June 27, 1944 ~ March 19, 1947 and was stationed in the Philippines during World War II and then honorably discharged after serving four years.

As a young man Bill boxed Golden Glove and later, while in the Marines, he continued to box but hung up his gloves after being knocked out by a superior opponent. Bill would later say to his kids, “There is always someone who will be much better than you.”

After the Marines, he was introduced to Dorothy by his Uncle Freddy and they were married in April 1, 1951. They purchased a new home in Yorktown Heights, located one-hour north of New York City. They later moved to Ephrata, Pennsylvania for a few years and then out to Colorado where they lived in Arvada, Colorado for 40+ years.

Shortly after getting married, Bill went to work for the AT&T phone company in New York and worked as a phone installer for 14 years and installed phones in the homes of Jacky Gleason and George C. Scott and a number of other movie stars.  He shocked his co-workers when he resigned suddenly and started his own business.  Bill was a handyman at heart, and he would take on just about any small remodeling project that came along.  Bill loved to work with his hands and he loved tools.  When he was no longer able to live at home with a work area, hundreds of tools were divided among family members in an effort to keep them in the family.

Bill was also a singer and had an impressive tenor voice.  He often sang solos in the church choir when they lived in New York at the Yorktown Presbyterian Church. He would also sing when cutting the lawn with the gas-powered mower, thinking the loud noise of the engine would cover over his operatic voice.  But the sound of the mower was absorbed by the lawn and trees and Bill’s voice could be clearly heard around the neighborhood.

Right up until weeks before his death, Bill was still actively at work at his drawing easel creating artwork for his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends.  Bill loved to draw. He had a 3’ x 5’ drawing easel displayed with dozens of sharpened pencils surrounding the outer edge of the easel at an easy reach. Bill’s drawings were not professional, but they were the result of a man doing something out of the pure joy of doing it.

Family and friends are invited to attend a graveside service with military honors at 11:00am on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at Fort Logan National Cemetery, 3698 South Sheridan Blvd., Denver, Colorado. Please gather in Staging area 'A' by 10:45am.

Family and friends are also invited to share memories of Bill and condolences with his family by sharing on he adjoining Tribute wall. Thank you.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of William Engel, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Graveside Service

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Starts at 11:00 am (Mountain (no DST) time)

Fort Logan National Cemetery

3698 S Sheridan Blvd, Denver, CO 80236

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