Obituary: William F. Potter, 78, of Mystic

STONINGTON, CT - (From Mystic Funeral Home) William F. Potter, 78, of Mystic, died Friday, June 19, 2020. Born October 24, 1941 in Bristol, Connecticut he was the son of the late William Fiske Potter II and Hedwig Elsie (Gorr) Potter.

He was the husband of 54 years to Catherine Irene (Baronoski) Potter of Stratford. They had a son James William in 1967 and a daughter Karen Elizabeth in 1969. James, his wife Yoon Kyung and their 2 daughters Sienna and Gian Potter currently reside in Seoul, Korea, and Karen, her husband Thomas Morace and their 2 daughters Jordan and Kiera Morace currently reside in Preston, CT.

He graduated from Bristol High School in 1959 and the University of Connecticut in 1963 with a degree in electrical engineering. He was the rifle team captain in both high school and college.

Bill retired from The Electric Boat Division in Groton in 1999 as Chief of Facilities Engineering after 36 years.

Throughout his career at EB, he held supervisory positions in Manufacturing Engineering, Operations Engineering and Facilities Engineering departments responsible for shop layouts, capital budgets, machine and project specifications, and project management for the maintenance and upgrade of the facilities required for submarine design and construction.

He volunteered for many years at the Mystic Seaport Shipyard since 2003, performing various woodworking tasks in support of ship restoration and maintenance.

Bill’s past accomplishments include President of the Southeast Chapter of the UCONN Alumni Association, 6 years on the board of the National UCONN Alumni Association, Groton Camera club president, PTA president at Old Mystic Elementary School, and statistician for the East Lyme Golf League for many years. He also enjoyed playing golf, woodworking, home and yard maintenance projects, vegetable gardening and photography.

Bill was a recipient of a kidney transplant from his daughter on August 13, 2009.

His family will receive relatives and friends Wednesday, June 24th from 5-7 pm at the Mystic Funeral Home located on Route 1 in Mystic. Services and burial will be held privately. For those attending calling hours on Wednesday, social distancing guidelines will be in place and occupancy may be limited when entering the funeral home.

Please consider a donation in his memory to the Mystic Seaport.