William Henry Yaeger III

William Henry Yaeger III, 79, of Alexandria, VA, passed away suddenly on October 26, 2020. Born in Orlando, FL, and raised in San Antonio, TX, Bill was the son of the late William Henry Yaeger II and Mary Eileen Kain Yaeger. Bill, known to his family as Henry and nicknamed Cinco (“five”), is survived by his beloved wife of over 30 years, Ellen Leddy, whom he cherished deeply. He is also survived by his daughter Mary Eileen, of Alexandria, VA, and her children Sofia, Dorothy, and Evelyn; his son William Henry, of Lancaster, PA and his children William, Sebastian, and Eleanore; and his brothers Thomas Owen Yaeger and Richard Anthony Yaeger. As a child, Bill spent summers at his grandfather’s ranch near Hebbronville in southwest TX and a year in Mexico, where he learned fluent Spanish which sparked a lifelong passion for exploring other cultures and languages. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, TX and received a BA in Physics and Philosophy from St. Mary’s University also in San Antonio. Bill’s career in international service started in the early 1960’s when he moved to Peru as a Papal Volunteer for Latin America through the Catholic Church. After working as a university instructor in Lima and Arequipa, he transitioned to the private sector working for W.R. Grace & Co. at the Sociedad Paramunga, among others. He married and had two children. While in Peru he received an MBA from the Escuela de Administración de Negocios (ESAN,) a program administered by Stanford University. In 1969 Bill returned to Texas, where he studied for a Ph.D. and taught at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. Later he moved to Houston where he worked for Southwestern Group Financial, as well as starting and managing several successful businesses. He served in community leadership roles including the St. Ambrose Parish Council President and Scout Master for Boy Scouts of America Troop 540 which, under his guidance, produced impressive numbers of Eagle Scouts. Bill became a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development after serving the Agency as a contractor in Haiti and Jamaica in the mid 1980’s. For more than 25 years, he designed and led programs in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Caucuses, and Eastern Europe, specializing in housing, finance, democratic reform, and post-conflict institutional development. For USAID, Bill also consulted on specific programs in Angola, Sierra Leone, and Pakistan. Notably he served for many months as the on the ground director of USAID-led relief in Aceh, Indonesia following the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami. Bill met his wife, Ellen, a fellow Foreign Service Officer, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. They quickly fell in love and were married in Key Biscayne, FL in 1990. Bill and Ellen enjoyed immersing themselves in the cultures of the many countries they lived in and made lifelong friendships during their multiple deployments across the globe. Eventually they settled in Alexandria, VA, where they enjoyed entertaining friends and the many cultural offerings of Washington, DC. In retirement, Bill pursued interests in history, gardening, and civic engagement, including volunteer positions as a member of the IRS Tax Advisory Panel, an Election Official for Fairfax County, VA, and the AARP Foundation Volunteer Tax- Aide program. Bill will most be remembered for his integrity, generosity, intense curiosity about the world around him, humor, kindness, and great love for his wife and family. A private Memorial Service will be held on November 14 at 4:00 PM at the Demaine Funeral Home. The Service will be live streamed via Demaine’s Facebook page. To participate, please like Demaine Funeral Home’s Facebook page @DemaineAlexandria, look for the service on the page and click. In lieu of flowers or to honor Bill’s memory, the family requests that memorial contributions in Bill’s name be sent to House of Ruth (https://houseofruth.org/). Please visit Bill Yaeger’s memorial page https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/9868174 and share your remembrances of Bill. The family will cherish your reminiscences and insights.