William Henry Petty, 82, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family on September 29, 2023 after a five-year courageous battle with cancer. Bill was preceded in death by his wife Carole Cashman Petty, and his parents, Paul and Margie Petty.
Bill was born and raised in Huntington, WV. He was a 1959 graduate of Huntington High School where he played trombone in the HHS All Boys Marching Band. Bill graduated from Marshall University in 1963 and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. As a participant in ROTC, he marched in the Inaugural Parade for President John F. Kennedy. Bill went on to earn a Masters Degree in Science from Johns Hopkins University in 1970.
Bill was employed in Washington, DC by Mitre Corp. and Bellcomm, Inc. Bellcomm was originally organized to provide NASA’s Office of Manned Space Flight with technical and management advice for the Manned Space Flight Program. As the NASA-Bellcomm relationship evolved, the latter became directly responsible for systems engineering and analysis and assisted in the overall spacecraft integration for the Apollo program. Bill and team had a very important role to play in the Apollo 13 moon mission in 1970. Bill was responsible for rockets’ trajectories. There was plenty of time to analyze, check, recalibrate and in some respects test his computations prior to the mission’s initial launch. However, when the mission went awry, James Lovell and crew needed to be brought back to earth from a point in space that had not been previously contemplated. That became Bill’s job with not much time to get it right. If the flight path was too steep, the crew would burn up during re-entry; with one too shallow, they would skip of the earth’satmosphere into the void of space. Bill not only got it right but to the desired landing area. Bill was one of the very best computer programmers. Later in his career, he specialized in car rental companies and health care facilities. Bill took an entertaining idea, Sudoku, another step farther by creating a colorful 3D version.
Bill and his wife of 53 years and two sons enjoyed traveling around the United States for 10 years. Favorite places were Sun Valley, Idaho and the Grand Canyon.
Bill was a gentleman with a brilliant mind and a dry sense of humor. Left with wonderful memories of Bill are his two sons, Mark Henry Petty and Brent William Petty; his sister, Diana Petty Johnson (husband Perry and son Benjamin); his Aunt Eleanor Roth; and numerous cousins and friends.
The family would like to thank Bill’s team of medical doctors, nurses and staff at Scripps Memorial of La Jolla, CA; Bill’s son Mark Petty, who was his primary caregiver for five years; and Hospice Light Bridge Palliative Care in San Diego, CA.
Condolences may be sent to the family via Diana Petty Johnson, 17 Bakers Walk, Alexandria, VA 22314 (dspjohnson@mac.com); or Mark Petty, 4689 Ashby Street San Diego, CA 92115 (pmarchenri@hotmail.com)