William (Bill) Edward Headley, age 84, of Hockessin, Delaware, formerly of Summit, New Jersey died on August 7, 2024 at the inpatient hospice unit of Christiana Hospital.
Bill was an educator for most of his adult life, with a passion for science and technology. He was instrumental in starting a physics program and implementing computers at Kent Place School, an independent K – 12 all girls school in Summit, New Jersey.
Bill was the youngest son of Carrie Lovelace Headley (remarried with the surname Dusenbury) and Willis Reuben Headley, and was born in Sheffield, Alabama. His father died when he was 2 years old. When he was 8 years old, he and his mother moved to Florence, South Carolina where they lived with one of his older sisters and her husband. He attended McClenaghan High School where he was valedictorian of his class, president of the junior class, Chief Marshal (honorary group), and received an award for excellence in history. He earned a scholarship to attend the University of South Carolina where he majored in electrical engineering, was a member of Tau Beta Pi (engineering honor society), and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He was offered scholarships to attend graduate school for electrical engineering at both Yale and Princeton University, and decided to enroll in a Masters program at Princeton. This is what first brought him to New Jersey, where he met his wife, Roberta Ruth Lundy, who attended Douglass College.
Bill and Roberta married in 1963 and then moved to Washington D.C., where he took a job teaching math to high school students at Sidwell Friends. After two years at Sidwell Friends, Bill was asked by the soon-to-be-head of Kent Place School to start a physics program at Kent Place. In 1965, he began teaching both physics and math at Kent Place, which at that time was a boarding school. He and Roberta lived on the school campus in faculty housing. They had three children: Diana, and twins Robert and Jon. By 1973, Roberta started teaching kindergarten at Kent Place School, and Bill became Head of the Science Department. Bill taught at Kent Place for a total of 29 years, and Roberta taught at Kent Place for a total of 33 years.
After they both retired, Bill and Roberta moved to Wilmington, Delaware, to be near their daughter Diana and her children. They got to know a number of their neighbors in Pike Creek, where Bill enjoyed going on long walks through the woods, and feeding the birds and other animals. His other interests included following the stock market and keeping up with his investments, as well as staying abreast of the latest computer technology. He was an avid college sports fan, and was devoted to teams from Stanford (from which one of his sons graduated) and Duke (from which one of his grandchildren graduated). He loved to spend time with all of his children and grandchildren, whom he visited regularly. He and Roberta took trips to Seattle, Pasadena, Austria, China, London, and Australia with family, and also went on two Disney cruises: a Mediterranean cruise in 2013, and a Scandinavian cruise in 2019. For the past two years both Bill and Roberta lived together at The Summit Retirement Community on Limestone Road in Hockessin, Delaware.
Bill is survived by his wife Roberta L. Headley of Hockessin, DE, and his three children: Diana Headley Saunders of Wilmington, DE (husband Chris Malmstrom), Robert Headley of Seattle, Washington (wife Natalie He), and Jon Headley of Pasadena, CA (wife Wende Headley). He is also survived by his seven grandchildren: Jessica and Fiona Saunders, Tyler and Sofia Headley, and Matt, Chris, and Jackson Headley.
Special thanks to AccentCare Inpatient Hospice at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, and to the staff at The Summit Retirement Community. If you wish to make a gift in Bill’s name, please consider the following organizations whose missions match with causes that were near and dear to his heart: the education of children and support for animals and wildlife.
Kent Place School in Summit, New Jersey
42 Norwood Avenue
Summit, NJ 07901
(https://www.kentplace.org/giving/give-today)
The Brandywine Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)/Copeland Center for Animal Welfare
290 Churchmans Road
New Castle, DE 19720
(https://bvspca.org/donate/honor-a-life)
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, New York 14850
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