FROM: Bruce J. Walz, Chair, Department of Emergency Health Services
It is with sadness that I report the passing of Emeritus Instructor William “Bill” Hathaway on November 1st after a battle with lung cancer. Known by his students as “Uncle Bill,” professor Hathaway served as the department’s undergraduate management track coordinator. He taught at UMBC from 1981 till his retirement in 1999.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, November 15, at Ascension Episcopal Church, located at 253 S. Main St., Amherst, VA 24521. Condolences may be sent to the Hathaway family at 125 Garland Avenue, Amherst, VA 24521-2521.
The following is an excerpt from The Baltimore Sun obituary:
After graduating from West Point in 1961, he served in an artillery unit until joining the Army Intelligence Corps, where he worked in Washington for the Defense Intelligence Agency. He resigned his commission in 1969 and his decorations included a Bronze Star, Air Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal and Army Commendation Medal.
After leaving the Army, he taught eighth-grade mathematics in Baltimore public schools and managed a treatment center for delinquent boys.
He earned a master’s degree in personnel administration in 1968 from George Washington University. He also earned a second master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University.
In the early 1970s, Mr. Hathaway joined Dr. R Adams Cowley, who had founded in 1961 what became the Maryland Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center. From 1974 to 1981, Mr. Hathaway held a variety of positions including chief coordinator of the Maryland Division of Emergency Medical Services, director of planning and development for the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services, and later its director of field services, where he oversaw an annual budget of $5 million and 70 employees.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Mr. Hathaway’s expertise led him to travel overseas to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Estonia and Latvia, as a member of training teams that helped develop emergency care systems based on Maryland Shock Trauma.
After leaving Maryland’s Division of Emergency Medical Services, he became an EMS instructor at UMBC, where he remained until retiring in 1999.
Gov. Harry R. Hughes appointed him to the Maryland Emergency Numbers (911) Systems board in 1979 and reappointed him in 1984. Gov. Parris N. Glendening honored Mr. Hathaway with a Governor’s Citation for his “distinguished service as an instructor at UMBC and for his efforts to develop Maryland’s Emergency Medical System.”
After moving to Amherst some years ago, Mr. Hathaway served on the town planning commission and county library board and volunteered with Meals on Wheels. He was also a master gardener and enjoyed landscaping projects.
Surviving are his wife of 33 years, Lillian Wray; a son, William Kristin “Kris” Hathaway of Ellicott City; a daughter, Susan Hathaway Scotto of Columbia; and five grandchildren. An earlier marriage ended in divorce.
