Manfred William Gerhardt

Manfred William Bill Gerhardt, age 76, of Houston, died peacefully on April 25, 2002 in Ithaca, N.Y., six months after being diagnosed with cancer. While his wish was to finish his life in his home state of Texas, his last days in Ithaca were spent surrounded by loving friends and family. An engineer and computer analyst by profession, Mr. Gerhardt had many passions outside his work. What he referred to as "a delightful life" was lived through hundreds of major league baseball games, almost 2,000 cassette tapes of recorded classical music, and more than 20,000 photographs taken from his numerous travels around the world. Born as "Billy" in P&S Hospital in San Antonio on July 23, 1925, he spent most of his childhood on the south side of San Antonio and was graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1941. Mr. Gerhardt attended Texas A&M University and Rice University in military officer programs. Immediately after the end of World War II he served as a Naval officer in the Pacific, and later served on Guam during the Korean War. After WWII he graduated with a degree in structural engineering from the University of Texas in 1948 and then applied his mathematical prowess over his 45-year work career in both structural engineering and computer programming. While he wasn't renown for famous work, his legacy was left instead through thousands of small caring acts in bringing friends, classmates, and family together. He will be remembered for his quick mathematical mind and keen wit, as well as his gentle, gracious and generous manner. He was preceded in death by his parents, Manfred and Eloise Gerhardt; son, William Read Gerhardt in 1979. Survivors: son, Robert Warren Gerhardt, Tucker, Georgia; daughters, Katherine Gerhardt Young, Bedford, TX, and Elizabeth Gerhardt Pasley, San Antonio, TX; granddaughters, Amy Michelle Young, Houston, TX , Dawson Mariclaire Gerhardt, Decauter, GA, and Melissa Katherine Young, Ft. Worth, TX; grandsons, Warren William Gerhardt, Decauter, GA, and Clayton Read Pasley, San Antonio, TX; brother, James Eastman Gerhardt and wife, JoLynn, Houston, TX; 1 great-granddaughter.