WILLIAM FARWELL FLETCHER, known variously as "Bill," "Daddy," "Gramps" and "wise old Mr. Fletcher," died of natural causes this Wednesday, August 6, 2008, at the age of 86 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Born in Evanston, Illinois, on October 21, 1921, Bill married Jeanne Eaton on May 3, 1943, just before he went to the Pacific to fly PBY air sea rescue missions as a Navy pilot in World War II. He returned in March of 1946 to Purdue University to finish his degree in engineering, where he fathered the first of four daughters, Pam (Bone), now a resident of Lexington Park, Maryland. Bill, Jeanne and Pam then moved to Huntington, West Virginia, the location of J.H. Fletcher and Company, the family business which Bill, his brother Bob Fletcher, and their father J.H. Fletcher built and operated. He fathered three more daughters in Huntington, Jill (Messier), Susie (Morgan) and Vicki (Sweeney), who now live in DeBary, Florida; Buckhead, Georgia; and Cincinnati respectively. Bill also treated his sons-in-law, John Bone, Chuck Messier, Brad Morgan and Dennis Sweeney, as his own, and had five loving grandchildren, Marissa, Adam, and Andrew Messier, and Dennis and Ellen Sweeney. His brother Robert Fletcher and niece Sally Duncan both of Huntington, niece Lyn Reeves of Fort Myers, Florida, nephew Jim Fletcher of Key Largo, Florida and nephew Bruce Becker of Mount Prospect, Illinois, also survive him. Whether taking friends and family out on his sailboat in the Virgin Islands, teaching his daughters and grandchildren how to drive, or dancing with his wife on their 65th wedding anniversary at his grandson Andrew's wedding to Holly French, Bill always had a sense of humor and gentleness unequalled among husbands, fathers, and grandfathers. Best known for his ability to construct or repair any item ("if you have the right tools, you can fix anything"), Bill raced a Lotus Super 7 racecar throughout the midwest and for many years kept a renowned hideout in the West Virginia woods called "The Last Resort." His family cherishes the time they spent in Beckley, West Virginia, at Flat Top Lake ("it never rains this hard for very long...") and their time visiting Bill and Jeanne in their later residences in Chicago, St. Croix, and finally Cincinnati. Beloved by many, admired by those who knew him, Bill Fletcher lived a long, full life and died with his wife Jeanne and his daughters by his side. A service with close friends and family will be held in Wayne, Illinois, Monday, August 11, 2008. Instead of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be sent to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America at ccfa.org or to Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, National Processing Center, Attn: Honor & Memorial Gifts, PO Box 1245, Albert Lea, MN, 56007-9976.