Tag Archives: Bill Sleeper Jr

William Sleeper, Jr. ’35

William Hobbs Sleeper, Jr. 'Bill'William H. Sleeper (99) passed peacefully on December 17, 2014 from metastasized prostate cancer at his retirement home in Mill Creek, WA.

Bill was born in Exeter, New Hampshire on August 5, 1915 to William H. Sleeper and Florence (Clark) Sleeper. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Williston Academy, graduating in Physics from Harvard University.

As an electrical engineer, and radar and weapons system specialist, he worked at Foxboro Instrument, Sperry Gyroscope, Bendix Aviation, M.I.T., Caltech, General Electric, Boeing, and Raytheon, finally retiring in 1990 at age 75.

Bill joined the Navy during World War II and served as radar maintenance officer on the U.S.S. Quincy both in the Atlantic and Pacific Theatres. His ship carried President Roosevelt to and from the Yalta Conference in Malta, then traveled through the Panama Canal to support military efforts in the Pacific until the war ended. During a 3-day shore leave in NYC, he married his “child bride” Norma Jean Pribyl, had a 1-day honeymoon, then shipped out to sea for 9 more months. He and Norma were happily married for 66 years until her death in 2011.

Bill is survived by his two children, Barbara Sleeper and William H. Sleeper III, three grandchildren, Kelly (Citron) Galloway, David Citron and Josh Citron, and six great-grandchildren, Grady and Gretta Galloway and Paige, Claire, Noah and Sam Citron.