William H. Drysdale

William Drysdale, 75, of Aberdeen, died Oct 31 in Bel Air. Born in Peoria, IL to Charles and Emma Drysdale on Dec 9, 1941. He lost his father early, and that experience helped shape the stoicism and self-reliance that would characterize him throughout his life. Although not a Catholic, he attended Mass with his wife on a regular basis. He was known as Bill, excelled in school, and earned a Bachelors, Masters, and PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois. He applied this interest to a life-long, fruitful, and extremely rewarding career as a researcher for the Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground. One of the many honors he received was being named a Fellow of the Ballistics Research Laboratory. More importantly to Bill, he married his wife, Linda, in 1968, in her hometown of Decatur, IL. They moved to Maryland in 1974, and after 49 years of marriage they were still very much in love and a credit to the institution. He is survived by his sister, Kay Drysdale, of Irvine, CA; his wife; two sons; Andrew (Lindsey), of Middle River, MD, and Peter, of College Park, MD; two grandchildren, Olivia and Sean; and a small universe of friends and acquaintances who are inestimably richer for having known him. Bill was outwardly quiet and self-effacing, drawing a great amount of pleasure from small family gatherings and a well-developed interior life. He was a patient, steadying influence, an unswerving role model of integrity, and selfless to a fault. He showed his love in deeds and in the consistency of his support. His hobbies included a passionate love of gardening, computer solitaire, and home winemaking. He was not always successful but he loved the process and the journey. He loved history books, his hammock, craft beer that tasted like his old stuff, slow mornings, dessert, puttering around in his workshop, helping his loved ones in any way humanly possible, and traveling to Michigan. At the time of his death, he was experiencing a late-life renaissance that could be mostly attributed to the intense fulfillment he received from being an obsessively doting grandfather. In the end, he lived his life well, both in terms of finding it rewarding and inspiring others to make their world a better place. He will be sorely missed but his influence will not diminish. Special thanks to the Upper Chesapeake Hospital Oncology Department, the second floor night nurses, and Drs. Huq and Parsa. Visitation will be held Nov 14 from 1-2:30 with a service to begin at 2:30pm at the Tarring-Cargo Funeral Home in Aberdeen. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition.