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William Drewes, Jr.
1926 - 2011
A Memorial Service celebrating the life of William C. Drewes, Jr. of Palm Coast, an engineer and civic leader, was held on Friday, January 21 at 3:00 PM in Christ Lutheran Church, 2323 N. State St. (Route #1), Bunnell in the Atlantic Complex with Reverend Chris Magnell officiating. There was a coffee and cake reception afterwards. Mr. Drewes, 84, passed away on January 3, 2011 in Palm Coast. Bill was born and raised in Brooklyn NY, the son of retail merchants whose family owned Drewes Brothers bakery, delicatessen and liquor store in Bay Ridge NJ. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and was a member of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Bay Ridge where he met his future wife, June Hoy. During World War II, Bill served on active duty in the Navy on an LST Transport ship. Following the war he enrolled in Pratt Institute to study engineering. Upon graduation in 1948 he accepted a position at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation (later known as Unisys) on Long Island, where he worked throughout his 40-year career as an engineer designing advanced navigation and guidance systems. It was also in 1948 that Bill and June were married in Brooklyn, two years later they moved to Farmingdale, Long Island, where they raised three children, Chris, Kathy and Doug. Bill balanced his engineering career with an active role in Farmingdale's civic affairs. He and June joined St. Luke's Lutheran Church where they were members of the Mr. and Mrs. Club, and Bill was a mainstay of the choir and member of the church council. He was a troop leader of Boy Scouts Troop 601 based at St. Luke's, organizing camping trips and excursions as well as community service projects. Bill was also active in the local Masonic Lodge, and the Lion's Club. He contributed to the thoughtful growth and development of the community as a member of the Farmingdale Village Planning Board. Upon his retirement in 1986 Bill and June moved to Shelter Island on Long Island's East End, where Bill took up boating and cultivated his longtime love of golf. They became "snowbirds" dividing their time between Shelter Island in the summer and Palm Coast in winter, until 1995 when they moved to Palm Coast full-time. In 2005, Bill and June joined with a local group of residents to become founding members of Christ Lutheran Church in Palm Coast. Since that time Bill has served the congregation in numerous official and unofficial capacities, and was instrumental in securing a permanent home for the Church and in selecting its current Pastor. His mellifluous baritone continued to delight parishioners as one of the self-styled "Four Caballeros" soloists for the Christ Lutheran Choir. Bill is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Joy Hoy Drewes; by their children, William Christian (Chris) Drewes III, Kathryn Drewes Squillante and Douglas Alan Drewes; by their grandchildren, David Drewes, Kristin Drewes Lamparello, Caroline (Cara) Drewes Pessel, Christian Squillante, Kate Squillante Bird, Ryan Prep, Kelly Prep and Erin Drewes; and by their great-grandchildren, Anna Drewes, Jessica Drewes, Patrick Lamparello, Juliet Pessel and Rylan Prep.
