William Henderson Ollinger, beloved father, grandfather, brother, friend and colleague, passed away on Friday, August 7, at 3:00 p.m., at his home at St. George’s Village, in Roswell. He is now resting his eyes in perpetuity.
He is preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Beatrice Cole Ollinger; parents, H. Leo Ollinger and Marguerite Potter Ollinger; siblings, H.Leo Ollinger, Jr., Thomas Potter Ollinger, Nell Ollinger Miles, and Mary Margaret Ollinger Kelleher; he is survived by his sisters, Ruth Ollinger Harwood and Sivewright Ollinger Carden, of Mobile, AL; and his six children, Catherine Ollinger Cowan of Ocala, FL; William H. Ollinger, Jr., of Lilburn; Tricia Ollinger Ward of Charlotte, NC; S. Cole Ollinger of Cincinnati, OH; Paul M. Ollinger of Atlanta; and Claire Ollinger Rohlen of Ball Ground; 16 grandchildren; dozens of devoted nieces and nephews, and many friends.
Bill – aka Billy, Papa, Uncle Bill, Uncle Billy – is remembered fondly for his charm and social graces, impish wit, and abiding love of science, equations and obscure facts. His tour-guiding skills were legendary, as was his extreme thriftiness in consumer goods.
Born April 9, 1927, in Mobile, AL, Dad attended McGill Institute and held degrees from Spring Hill College in Mobile; the Merchant Marine Academy, in Kings Point, NY; and St. Louis University. He served as a Lieutenant in the US Merchant Marine and US Navy. He married Beatrice Claire Cole, of Poughkeepsie, NY, on November 21, 1959, at Christ the King Cathedral, in Atlanta. They met on a blind date.
His career as a nuclear engineer, with a specialty in emergency preparedness, included stints at Lockheed Corporation, Georgia Power and the Southern Company. He enjoyed business travel, especially to exotic locales, such as Baxley, GA. He retired in 1997.
His final years were spent comfortably at St. George’s Village, where he hosted many lovely family events and enjoyed the company of many longtime friends and made an impressive number of new ones, as he was always seeking to connect people. He was a devoted lifelong Catholic.
At the peaceful moment of his passing, Dad was surrounded by family, friends and continues to be blessed by a prolonged steam of prayers In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Ollinger Family Scholarship Fund at St. Pius X High School (2674 Johnson Rd NE; Atlanta, GA 30345), Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org) or the American Heart Association.
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