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William G. 'Bill' Athey Odessa, FL QCWA # 35765 |
ATHEY, William George "Bill", 53, of Odessa died unexpectedly Sunday, September 16, 2012.
He is survived by sons: Ryan and Wilson Athey, parents Billy F. and Georgia Lee Athey, all from Odessa and Sister Sybil (Rick) Bowen, nieces Leanne and Marisa Bowen of St. Louis, MO and special friend, Vicky Truong of Tampa.
He was a Senior Software Engineer at CAE in Tampa engineering flight simulators for the past 6 years. In addition, he was very involved in Educational and Community Outreach Programs at CAE. Previously he was employed 20 yrs as a software engineer in Clearwater for Honeywell where he developed software for Space Guidance and Navigation. He received numerous awards for Software Development, Outstanding Community Service and was inducted as a Honeywell Inventor.
He was a graduate of Eckerd College with a BS in Information Systems/Computer Science. Bill was a lifelong learner of science/nature and loved to share his knowledge with schools and community groups. With his guidance some participated in the Starshine Project where students polished mirrors for a satellite launched from the Space Shuttle in 1999/2001.
He held an Extra Class Amateur Radio license and was a certified First Responder. He was an Eagle Scout and served as Scoutmaster of Troop 68 for 12 years; recently receiving BSA District Merit Award. He twice completed the Wasatch Front 100-mile Endurance Run in Utah. He loved to hike, backpack, Geo Cache, scuba dive, pursue flying, investigate genealogy and fly his newly created Quad Copter. He played various stringed instruments and raised white homing pigeons which have been used in Epiphany celebrations in Tarpon Springs. He loved long distance bicycle riding and competed once in Olympic trials.
Bill spent his life in service to others and above all honoring his Lord Jesus Christ.
Visitation will be Saturday, 5-7 pm at Blount & Curry Funeral Home, 6802 Silvermill Drive, Tampa. Services will be held Sunday, 2 pm at Hillsdale Baptist Church, 6201 Erhlich Road, Tampa. Graveside services to follow at Keystone UMC, 16310 Race Track Road, Odessa. Please sign the online guestbook at www.blountcurrywest.com
Published in TBO.com on September 21, 2012
>From www.qrz.com:
** Hobbies **
** Biography **
** Memberships **ARRL
AMSAT
QCWA
QRP-ARCI
MI-QRP Club
W5YI-VE
Honeywell Inventor Club
National Eagle Scout Association
BSA Order of the Arrow (Brotherhood)
BSA Lifeguard
PADI scuba
NAUMS
Experimental Aircraft Association
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assoc.
** Occupation **
Engineer
** QRPp **
I like to climb to the top of a mountain string up a home-brew dipole and see who I can work with a home-brew transmitter/receiver. It's amazing what you can do with 100 milliwatts or less! Try it!
