William James Cople, Jr.

 Obituary

William James Cople of Hauppauge, New York, passed away peacefully at his home, on August 10, 2024.

He was born on August 18th, 1926, in Bayridge Brooklyn, N.Y.

On April 26, 1952, he married the one and only love of his life, Bunny Anderson. They had five children. William James, Laura Jean, Patrice Adele, Ronald Anderson, and Colin Francis. They have eleven grandchildren; Eric, Candace, Kurt, Ashley, Krista, Ronnie, Harrison, Alex, Dylan, Sydney and Racheal, and eight great grandchildren; Madison, Kaylee, Greta, Alex, Adalynn, Vaeda, Ronnie, and Owen.

He graduated Fort Hamilton High School, and in 1944 he enlisted in the United States Army. In World War II, he served in the European theater in the 318 Infantry, 60th division under the leadership of General George S. Patton. On December 22nd, 1944, he was wounded in combat at The Battle of the Bulge. While serving in the army, William was awarded numerous medals, including The Bronze Star.

After returning home from the war, Bill attended The University of Dayton where he graduated at the top of his class, earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering. Later, while raising his family, coaching many youth sports, and working full time, he attended Long Island University, graduating with a master’s degree in engineering management.

From 1951-1967 he worked for the Arma Engineering Company on the Atlas ICBM program and the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1967, he was recruited by Grumman Aerospace to work on the Apollo program. In July 1969 he achieved the crowning moment of his career, landing a man on the moon and bringing him home. In the 1970s, he was the senior test engineer for the Navy F-14 Tomcat Fighter Jet, the A-6 Intruder, the Prowler, the E-2C Hawkeye, and numerous other projects that were classified Top Secret.

William and his beloved wife and best friend were world travelers, sailing five of the seven seas and extensively traveling six of the seven continents. He was an excellent snow skier and huge fan of the New York Giants, but what he loved most was to spend time with those who called him Dad, Pa, or Uncle Bill. His heart was immense, generous and very forgiving. Family and friends were everything to him and he will be forever in our hearts.

Funeral services at St Patrick’s Church Smithtown NY Friday August 16, 11:15 AM, internment to follow, Calverton National Cemetery