William “Bill” Koency, Jr. of Arlington died on Friday. William was born November 1924 in Arlington. He served in the Army Air Corps 756th BS as a B-24 aircraft gunner during WWII. He received several medals along with a Bronze Star and an Air Medal three times for his valiant support of the European Theater of Operations. Most notably he received a Purple Heart for wounds sustained when he was shot down over Germany and had to spend over a year in a German Prisoner of War camp.
When he returned from the war, William met and married Virginia Rhinehart, his beloved wife of 67 years. He used his GI Bill to attend vocational technical training to become an Electrical Engineer at Bell Helicopter. He rose to the position of Chief Inspector and was a key member of a team that developed the V-22 Osprey aircraft which is widely used today by the Air Force and Marine Corps.
William was an avid golfer, ham radio operator (call sign W5TYT), and general tinkerer. He would spend countless hours tearing apart the latest technological device to see how it worked.
But more than anything, William loved his family. He cherished his wife, Virginia, his children, David, Janis, and Johnny, and his grandchildren, Brian, Michelle, Jeff and Grady. He will be dearly missed by his family and a grateful nation. He is survived by his wife, Virginia, his daughter, Janis, his three grandchildren, Brian, Michelle, and Grady, and his four great grandchildren, Delaney, Koency, Jack, Vivienne, and other loved ones including his niece, Ann, who helped care for him the past three years.
Funeral service will be held at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at Moore Funeral Home Chapel, 1219 N. Davis Drive, in Arlington.
Visitation for family and friends will be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at Moore Funeral Home Chapel from 11:30 a.m. until service time.
Interment with military honors will follow at Parkdale Cemetery in Arlington.
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