William McNaught Damerel
Wednesday, June 30, 1937
Date of Death:
Friday, April 26, 2019
Age:
81 years old
Wednesday, June 30, 1937
Date of Death:
Friday, April 26, 2019
Age:
81 years old
Wednesday, June 30, 1937
Date of Death:
Friday, April 26, 2019
Age:
81 years old
William McNaught Damerel
William McNaught Damerel, age 81, of Rochester, MN, died Friday, April 26, 2019 at Seasons Hospice in Rochester.
William was born June 30, 1937, in Detroit, MI, the son of Will and Janet (McNaught) Damerel. He honorably served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 – 1965 as an air traffic controller, and he obtained the rank of Sergeant. Bill graduated from Auburn University in Auburn, AL, with a Bachelor of Industrial Management degree in 1963. While he was a student, he was united in marriage to Theresa “Terri” Hodson in Auburn on June 3, 1961. He worked for IBM in Rochester for 48 years, which included significant contributions to the creation of the S/32, S/36, and AS/400 systems that were produced – retiring in 2014.
Bill loved jazz and classical music, as well as musicals like “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific.” He also enjoyed John Wayne movies, and “True Grit” was a favorite. He later continued his service with the Marines being a civilian volunteer with the charity Toys for Tots. Other hobbies included photography, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (which included serving as the DSO-AN for the Eight Western Rivers Region), and anything to do with boating and the Mississippi river. Bill led a selfless life of service.
He is preceded in death by his parents.
Bill is survived by his wife, Terri; daughter, Nicola “Niki” Damerel (significant other, Jay Shields) of Hastings, MN; grandson, Joshua “Josh” Damerel of Hastings, MN; sister, Mary Fisher of Elkhart, KS; nephews, Adam Fisher and Cobb Fisher of Wichita, KS; and his beloved dog, Tinker Bell.
A memorial gathering will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, May 6, 2019 in the River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home in Rochester. Following the gathering, all are invited to the burial service at Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Preston at 2:00 p.m.
Condolences
The family of William McNaught Damerel has received the following condolences.
Our sincerest condolences for the loss of Bill. He became like a grandpa to us kids next door and the neighborhood will not be the same without his smile, waves and hearty laugh. We all lost a very special man.
Terri and family, so sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you in this difficult time.
Barb
Barb Kraemer
Terri so Very Sorry for your loss. You and your family have my Deepest Sympathy at this very difficult time. My prayers and thoughts are with you.
Hugs and Love,
Marsha
Assisting and working with Bill Damerel and his jolly groups of customers invited to convert their applications to the new unannounced AS/400 system was one of my happiest memories working at IBM. I was also the Administrative Assistant for the System/32, 34, and 36 developments which Bill was one of the Lab managers I supported. Bill was always a pleasure to work with and he was also a good friend, supportive, appreciative, respectful, fun and made everyone's day of hard work a good day! Bill was especially a very bright problem solver and assisted Dan, Greg, myself and all our visiting customers with utmost respect. We were a good team! Working with Bill will always be one of my best memories of my years with IBM. God bless Bill and his family.
I want to send my sincere condolences to you, Bill's family. But, while I didn't know Bill very well personally, I did work with him in my early days at IBM. He was in the department we supported in the "Word Processing Center" it was called in "the day". Our main responsibility was power typing. We did a lot of work for Bill and his co-workers and also worked on a special project which meant lots of overtime and doing a lot of hand-printing on easel charts (no power point in those days). We worked hard, had to be perfect in our work and Bill always was appreciative of what we did for him. While we really weren't knowledgeable about the project Bill worked on, it was obvious he was meticulous about his work but always had time to say thanks and show his appreciation. The guys were under lots of pressure to "get the job done". In he end, Bill was given an IBM cash award. Bill went out of his way to show his appreciation for the work we did in support of him. In fact, what he did was the only time in my career at IBM this happened...let me tell you: Bill, on his own initiative, got permission from our management (multiple levels) to host a luncheon (which he paid for himself), inviting those of us who helped him, and he shared a portion of that award with each of us...sometimes we worked late into the night. It was a surprise to our management that he offered this and was certainly a pleasant surprise to this single parent (at that time) supporting two teenagers and trying to make ends meet. Honestly, I don't remember what amount he shared out of his own pocket with each of us, but more importantly, it was the gesture that told the story of the kind of person Bill was. I didn't see him often after I moved on from that department, but I often thought of him and have told the story a number of times. So...I remember Bill with fond memories of his kindness and generosity...he did something he never would have had to do and, in fact, I'm not sure we ever would have known he was awarded. I am so sorry for your loss and know you will miss him. Be proud of him as I'm sure there are many more kind gestures that Bill did through your lives. I just thought you should know even after all these many years of this story about Bill. Thank you again, Bill...rest in peace.
my condolences to you and your family.
Walter