William "Bill" T. Aitken

William Thor Aitken went to be with our Lord July 21, 2020. He was born in the Throggs Neck area of Bronx, NY to William and Georgette Aitken on November 22, 1923. With his father’s permission, at the age of just seventeen, he entered service in the US Navy during 1940. Bill was stationed as a radioman on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington when WWII began. The “Lady Lex” was bombed during the Battle of the Coral Sea and was sunk. For the duration of the war, Bill served on the USS Card, also a carrier. Following the war Bill was advanced to Chief Petty Officer and stationed in Tsingtao, China, now known as Qingdao. He was there until 1949 when the USA had to leave mainland China. The Nationalist Chinese men he was training fled to the island of Taiwan. Bill honorably served our nation until 1960, when he retired at the age of just 37.

Bill worked for Fairchild Corporation (originally Fairchild Graphic Equipment) while still in Long Island, NY. He was transferred to Merritt Island, FL. as Regional Sales Manager. He then became Regional Sales Manager for Addressograph Multigraph. This involved a move to Annapolis, Maryland. When Bill retired for the final time he moved back to his beloved Florida in Cocoa. His “retirement” was almost forty years long because he lived on to 96.8 years. Bill kept busy for most of the remainder of his life. Bill brokered boats out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. He also enjoyed buying boats in serious need of love and restoration. These were “Osprey”, “Makai”, “Jade East”, “Echo”, “Whisper”, and “Boojum”. The last, “Boojum”, he sold at age 90.

Bill, “GrandDad,” will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered. He is survived by his wife, Harriet ‘Toni’ Aitken of 24 years; his children (by predeceased former wife, Dorothy Francis Aitken); Linda Aitken Hutt (Ralph) of Raleigh, NC., William Mark Aitken (Lisa) of Baiting Hollow, NY., Jayne Diana Huvar (James) of Darien, GA. The grandchildren loved their “GrandDad” dearly. They are Joshua Daniel Hutt, Joseph Matthew Hutt, Emily Dorothy Hutt, all of Raleigh, NC; Lindsy Carole Panesar of Ridgefield, CT., Kelsie Corin Sen of Portland, OR., Justin Michael Bishop of Cocoa, FL., and Shannon Dawn Bishop of Darien, GA. The great grandchildren are Kyleigh Jade Bishop, Jade Fallon Hutt, Kaydin Jayne Bishop, Kaleb Jay Hutt, Kolton Justin Bishop, Lillian Lisa Panesar, Amir William Panesar and Rohan Williamson Sen.

Bill’s US Navy Veteran Memorial Service will be held at the Life Event Center at Florida Memorial, 5950 South US Highway 1, Rockledge, FL on August 8, 2020 at 2pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Wounded Warriors or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.