William Dries

After a courageous fight with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, including a bilateral lung transplant earlier this year, William (Bill) Dries was called home on December 2, 2020. In his final days, he was at peace, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren at their home in Charlotte.

Survived by Pat, his loving wife of 43 years; children Kelly Adams (Mike), Andrea Kelly (Mark), Mike, and Kate Plonk (David); 7 grandchildren; and siblings David Dries (Maureen), Don Dries, Dianne Zecchino (Pat), Maria Schwerdt (Gary), Tricia Wilson (Bill) and their families. He is preceded in death by his parents, Don and Kitty Dries, and sister, Susan Romanowski.

Bill was born on September 11,1951 in New York, NY and grew up in Hazlet, NJ, where he attended Raritan High School. In March of 1973, Bill met the love of his life, Pat Russo, when he was a senior and she was a freshman at Rutgers University. Bill received his MBA, also from Rutgers, and a week before Pat’s graduation in May 1977, they married.

Bill began his career in 1974, as a CPA at Arthur Young in New York before moving in-house at AMCA International Corporation in Hanover, NH. In 1989, after four years in NH, the family moved and settled in Charlotte, NC where the company relocated. Soon after, AMCA was renamed United Dominion Industries where Bill eventually served as Chief Financial Officer of UDI until 2001 and then of EnPro Industries until his retirement in 2011. He was respected for his unwavering integrity and admired as an accomplished, humble, and witty friend and colleague. Bill particularly enjoyed the many opportunities he found throughout his career to mentor younger team members.

Bill was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. In his retirement, he was honored to serve as one of the “Back Room Boys” at Assistance League of Charlotte and on a number of corporate boards. In recent years, Bill and Pat enjoyed checking numerous destinations off their travel bucket list and spending time in the mountains of Cashiers, NC. He treasured his annual summer vacation with his Twin Lake Villa family in New London, NH since his first visit with Pat in 1974. His favorite pastimes included playing golf with his SMGA crew at Carmel Country Club (and colorfully complaining about his score), cheering on his beloved NY Yankees and Giants, completing his daily crosswords, Fridays at Old Hickory House, frequent meals at “his club”, Portofino’s Italian Restaurant, and spending time with his family and friends.

We love and adore you B, Bill, Billy, Grandpa. Your dry sense of humor, genuine kindness and humility, and devotion to your family will be dearly missed.

A funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at 11:00am at St. Gabriel Catholic Church at 3016 Providence Road in Charlotte (please see Service section below for livestream information). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Assistance League of Charlotte or the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.

Condolences may be offered at www.mcewenpinevillechapel.com.