Williams Wells, 87, Ridgewood Army Veteran

Editor's note: This obituary was posted on C.C. Van Emburgh's website.

William S. Wells, 87, passed away on Aug. 10, 2017 at home in Ridgewood.

Born on April 4, 1930, in Easton, Pennsylvania, William Wells, the son of Cornelius Wells and Carrie (nee Tucker) Vanderslice, spent his high school years in Washington, D.C. Bill augmented his formal education at McKinley Tech High School by collecting great music and books, including his cherished collection of the Harvard Classics, which he financed with a job counting passengers on D.C. buses, and which inspired his life-long love of literature and philosophy.

Bill earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Chicago, then interrupted his education to enlist in the Army and was accepted into the language training program in Monterey, California where he became fluent in Mandarin. After returning to civilian life, he earned a Masters in English Literature at Columbia University and a law degree from Columbia in 1960. For more than 30 years, he was dedicated to his work as corporate counsel at CPC International (now Unilever).

Bill settled with his family in Ridgewood in 1978 and, in recent years, divided his time between Ridgewood and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. After retiring in 1997, he devoted himself to his family, writing and travel. He continued his passion for books with the Reader’s Choice Book Club at the Ridgewood Public Library.

He is survived by his wife, Doris, with whom he recently celebrated a 60th wedding anniversary; four children and their spouses and partners, Catherine and David Bostock, Christopher Wells and Karen Gerdo, Jennifer Wells and Kent Schneeveis and Rebecca Wells and Ron Powers; and three grandchildren, Sam Powers, Andrew Bostock and William Bostock.

He was predeceased by his two brothers, Cornelius and John.

The visitation will be held at the C.C. Van Emburgh Funeral Home, 306 E. Ridgewood Ave. Thursday 6 to 8 p.m., to be followed by a private burial at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ridgewood Public Library Foundation, 125 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ, 07450 or Ridgewoodlibraryfoundation.org.

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