Necrology

William Sumner Fancher '39

Nov. 3, 1916-Jun. 10, 2006

William Sumner Fancher ’39, who practiced law in Walton, NY, for more than a half-century, was born in that Catskill community on November 3, 1916. The son of Samuel H., also a lawyer, and Veronica Odenkirchen Fancher, he entered Hamilton in 1935 as a graduate of Walton High School. Bill Fancher joined ELS and went out for the Band. He also participated for four years in varsity track as a “general weight man” and in football as a linesman, lettering in both sports. The recipient of the Darling Prize in American History, he was awarded his diploma in 1940.

By that time, Bill Fancher had already begun his studies at Cornell University Law School, where he acquired his LL.B. degree in 1942. Soon after his admission to the New York State Bar that year, he entered the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. Trained as a navigator and commissioned as an officer, he was wed on September 3, 1943, to Elizabeth M. Hawley in Lincoln, NE. (Two children were born of the marriage, William S. and Barbara.)

In 1943, Lt. Fancher was deployed to England as a B-17 navigator with the 711th Bombardment Squadron, 447th Bomb Group, of the 8th Air Force. During the height of World War II he flew 20 combat missions over enemy territory in Europe, earning citations for “courage, coolness, and skill.” On his 21st mission in April 1944, his Flying Fortress was badly damaged by German flak, with three of its four engines out of commission and all of its officers wounded. Thanks to a heroic pilot and Bill’s navigation, despite his suffering pain and loss of blood from a severe leg wound, the plane managed to limp back to the English coast. There the remaining engine caught fire and the crew, including Bill, had to bail out before it crashed. Awarded the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters as well as the Purple Heart, he was discharged as a first lieutenant after the war’s end in 1945, following recuperation in England.

Bill Fancher returned to his hometown east of Binghamton and went into law partnership with his father. After his father’s death in 1948, he continued in solo practice while also taking an active part in Walton community affairs. Beside serving as attorney for the Town of Tompkins and tax agent for the New York, Ontario & Western Railway, he became a trustee of the William B. Ogden Free Library and treasurer of Christ Church (Episcopal) of Walton. He also chaired the village’s civic improvement committee and its zoning appeals board, and was commander of the local American Legion post. In addition, he was a member for 40 years of the Walton Fire Department.

Bill Fancher, who retired in 2002 at the age of 86, took to outdoor adventures in his younger years, including camping, canoeing, biking and mountain climbing. His travels took him from the highlands of Scotland to Fiji. In later years he still enjoyed snowshoeing on Walton’s local mountain.

William S. Fancher died at his home in Walton on June 10, 2006, in his 90th year. His survivors include two sons and a daughter, Samuel W. and Lincoln B. Fancher ’81, and Sarah Carder, born of his second marriage in 1954 to Lorna McCook, and eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild. He predeceased by 10 weeks his third wife, Aaltje (Ali) Berends Fancher, whom he had married in 1977.

Necrology Home