Obituary of William Scheller, Sr.

William G. Scheller, Sr., 90, passed away peacefully at the New Jersey Veterans' Home at Paramus on January 14. Born in Paterson on July 31, 1922, Bill was the youngest child of the late Fred and Lillian (Bailey) Scheller. Bill's childhood was profoundly influenced by the hardships of the Great Depression. But his memories of those years were always tempered by recollections of swimming in the basin below the Great Falls, riding his bike down Preakness Hill, and summers spent with his Uncle Guy and Aunt Jo Futrell on Upper Greenwood Lake. It was during those summers that Bill acquired his lifelong love the outdoors. In 1939, Bill joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and spent the summer and fall of 1939 fighting forest fires in Oregon. The CCC experience toughened Bill for the task of putting out a far more dangerous fire. His Army tour took him across Europe, and through harrowing combat situations. On November 7, 1948, Bill married Alice Marchitti. They were the parents of William Jr. and Alice, and made their home for 30 years in the Eastside neighborhood of Paterson. Throughout those years, Bill worked in the Propeller Division of the Curtiss-Wright Corporatio, fnrom which he retired in 1984. In later years, Bill and Alice resided on Richmond Avenue in the Totowa section of Paterson. Besides his parents, Bill was predeceased by his wife Alice in 2007, and by a brother, Kenneth Scheller. He is survived by his older sisters Grace, of Marathon, New York, and Doris of San Luis Obispo, California; by children William G. Scheller, Jr. of Waterville, Vermont and Alice Mainville of Amesbury, Massachusetts; and by grandchildren David Scheller, Carla Blumenthal, and Nigel and Addie Mainville. Funeral arrangements are by Festa Memorial Funeral Home, 111 Union Blvd., Totowa with visiting hours from 7-9 PM on Wednesday, January 16. Interment will be at Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa following services at Festa Memorial at 10:30 AM on Thursday, January 17. For more information go to www.festamemorial.com.