Obituary of William Floyd Frisbie

On September 22, 2012, William "Bill" Floyd Frisbie, Sr., of Sterling, Virginia, passed away peacefully at his home at the age of 74. Born on June 4, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Charles and Elizabeth Frisbie. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Elena Frisbie, and his 5 children: William Frisbie, Jr, and his wife Carol of Goshen, Indiana, daughter Susan Coty and Rudy Kovach of Mishawaka, Indiana, son David Frisbie of Indianapolis, Indiana, daughter Laura Frisbie and Cindy Blazier of Terre Haute, Indiana, and daughter Erica Frisbie of Arlington, Virginia. He is also survived by his sister, Jeanne Knauer of Rahns, Pennsylvania, two godchildren, eight grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and four nieces and nephews. Bill grew up in Rahns, Pennsylvania, graduating from Schwenksville High School in 1956. He attended the Indiana Institute of Technology and received an Engineering degree in 1960. He also pursued Masters studies at The Pennsylvania State University, but ultimately chose to begin his career overseas before completing his studies there. He worked for Philco Ford, first in Thailand, then Iran, England, Nigeria, Morocco, and Egypt. He spent the largest portion of his time abroad in Iran, living there for almost 10 years, and leaving on the penultimate evacuation flight preceding the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He retired after 40 years of service to the company that was by then Lockheed Martin in 2001. Almost immediately, he went back to work (sans necktie) with AT&T Technical Services Company. "Phone Bill" spent 7 years there before retiring again in 2009. Throughout his life, Bill was an avid amateur radio operator or "ham" as W3EMH. He operated worldwide and was active in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, ARES, a group of hams who volunteer their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the event of a disaster. A person of high intelligence and integrity, Bill also struck people with his kindness, warmth, humor, and charm, and will be deeply missed.