Page created by: Maria Baron

William T. Himmel was born in Guttenberg, NJ in 1925; he was the son of the late George and Maria Himmel. When he was 2 years old, his parents bought a farm in South Brunswick Township, NJ, where he lived for 82 years until 2009 when he moved to Sterling House, an assisted living facility in Florence, NJ. He lived there contentedly and comfortably for five years.

Bill was a graduate of Jamesburg High School and Rutgers University with a degree in agriculture. He was a hands-on farmer the rest of his life. He loved working in the fields and with animals. His place of peace was his beloved "woods," now a part of Middlesex County's Open Space Preservation program as passive parkland open to all.

His passions were his farm; his dogs; and Rutgers, Notre Dame, and Navy football. He also enjoyed watching a good NASCAR race on TV and his great-nephew's soccer and hockey games.

Bill was a Navy veteran and served on the USS Haynsworth, DD 700. While in college, he spent one summer on the construction of the New Jersey Turnpike, working in the area at South Brunswick between the New Brunswick and Hightstown exits.

Bill was diagnosed with Parkinson's in the early 2000s and died on December 9, 2014 in Westampton, NJ.

He was predeceased by his brother Bernhardt and nephew Robert. He is survived by his sister Evelyn Baron and her husband John, his niece Maria Duffy and her husband Mike, and their son DJ, all of Burlington, NJ; his nephew John Himmel and his wife Joanne and daughters Rebecca and Jessica of South Brunswick; and his niece Cynthia Austin and her husband Richard and daughters Gabrielle and Amaya of Cambridge, NY. He is also survived by cousin Henry Richter and his family of Little Egg Harbor; cousin Magda Linzer of Australia; and cousins Renate, Joachim, Johannes, Marianne, Gerald, Wilhelm, Manfred, and Hubert Richter and Barbara Zydorek, all in Germany. He is also survived by childhood friend and neighbor Anne McKendrick and her daughter and son-in-law, Clare and Dennis Moreen of South Brunswick, who were like family to"Uncle Bill."

The family wishes to express their gratitude to the caring and devoted staff of Sterling House, Clare Bridge in Westampton, and Vitas Hospice.