Necrology

William Bowtell Wetherbee '54

Oct. 1, 1932-Aug. 6, 2021

William “Bill” Bowtell Wetherbee ’54 died on Aug. 6, 2021, at his home in Cleverdale, N.Y. Born on Oct. 1, 1932, in Fort Edward, N.Y., he came to Hamilton from Fort Edward High School. At Hamilton, he majored in psychology and economics and was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity. Although he enjoyed a number of sports throughout his life —  tennis, cycling, and boating; he played football in high school — Bill’s principal sport was basketball, and it was on the hardwood that he made his mark on the Hill. He joined the Continentals as a freshman and was named the team’s most valuable player his first year, the first freshman in school history to be so honored. He played all four years and served as co-captain in both his junior and senior years. He was a member of the Block “H” Club throughout his time at Hamilton.

In August 1955, Bill joined the Army and served for two years, then was discharged as a private first class with a Good Conduct Medal in the summer of 1957. While in the service, he married Judy Sanderspree, whom he had met in high school and had dated throughout college. His entry in The Hamiltonian of 1954 noted the continuing presence at his fraternity of “an attractive visitor who was almost as familiar as houseparty weekends and who improved the handwriting on house bills.” So close were Bill and Judy that the entry concluded, “the ‘Wether’s’ future cannot be contemplated beyond the altar.” The two married on June 2, 1956.

In August 1957, following his discharge from the Army, Bill went to work first as a production manager and then as an account executive for the Howell Advertising Agency in Elmira, N.Y., but it shortly became clear that his true vocation would lie in the field of teaching. Beginning in the summer of 1958, he enrolled in what was then the State College of Education in Albany, and that fall he accepted a position in the South Glens Falls school system teaching English and coaching basketball. He continued his graduate studies during the summers of 1959 and 1960, and by 1962 had earned a master’s degree in educational administration. 

His career as an administrator in South Glens Falls began in 1962 with an appointment as building principal. From there he was promoted first to assistant superintendent, and in 1969 to superintendent of the South Glens Falls Central Schools, a post he would occupy until his retirement in 1988. In these positions, he advocated for both boys’ and girls’ participation in interscholastic sports; he was a strong proponent of Title IX. Reflecting, no doubt, his own academic experience, he argued for both broadening and diversifying the curricula in his school district. He initiated the first programs for gifted and talented students and created programs for those with disabilities within the district’s schools. After his retirement in 1988, he joined the faculty of Castleton State College in nearby southwestern Vermont, retiring from that appointment in 1999.

Bill was active in several professional organizations in his field, including the Saratoga County N.Y. School Administrators Association (of which he was president from 1974 to 1975), the Capital Area School Development Association as a member of its executive board, the New York State Teachers Association, the New York State Council of School District Administrators, and the National Education Association.

Bill was also civic-minded. He served on the executive committee of the Lake George Association (Cleverdale, N.Y., his adopted hometown, being on the lake), on the board of the Friends of Crandall Public Library of Glens Falls, as a trustee of the Union Cemetery in Fort Edward, and as chairman and member of the board of the Lakeside Chapel, a non-denominational church in Cleverdale. There, from time to time, he also lent support for wedding rehearsals, rang the bell for services, and assisted in raising financial resources for the chapel. He was a member of the South Glens Falls Rotary Club and served on the board of directors of the city’s affiliate of the United Cerebral Palsy Association.

But basketball continued to be a major avocation. Not only did Bill play at least twice a week until he was 87, but from 1990 until 2016, he and Judy played major roles in organizing and otherwise supporting the New York State High School Basketball Championship, which was then held annually in Glens Falls. He created the program pamphlet and announced successive games, pronouncing difficult names with apparent ease and correctly reporting relevant statistics in the course of a game. He became known as “The Voice of High School Basketball.” In 2017, he was inducted into the Upstate New York Basketball Hall of Fame for his support of the game and of Title IX.

Bill also served Hamilton. He was a member of the Alumni Association and secretary of the Adirondack Region. He led the Annual Fund drive for that chapter in 1965 and was himself a regular contributor. In 1999, he chaired his class’s 45th reunion committee, and until his death served as Class of 1954 co-president with Bill Orth. 

In 2004, in his entry for his 50th reunion yearbook, Bill wrote eloquently of the impact of his education on the Hill, and in the process perhaps anticipated Sidney Wertimer’s memorable declaration that “Hamilton trains you for nothing and prepares you for everything.” As Bill put it, “Hamilton did not prepare one for a particular occupation or vocation, indeed it went further and better. With a Hamilton education, one could perform and compete well in whatever profession he chose. It demanded competencies in reasoning, expression, and thinking, which were invaluable assets in all endeavors. Whatever successes I have experienced were largely a product of Hamilton’s expectations.”

William B. Wetherbee is survived by one daughter and one son. Judy, his wife of over 70 years, predeceased him.

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