William Montgomery Drumm

Hartland, VT – William (Bill) Montgomery Drumm, 92, died Tuesday September 23, 2014, after a brief stay at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Jct., Vt.
He was born November 26, 1921, in Sunbury, PA, a son of Homer Sylvester and Francis Marion (Tharp) Drumm. William lived in Berwick, PA, and served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II as a B-17 Crew Chief in England and Ukraine from 1941, until his honorable discharge as Master Sergeant in 1945. He shook hands with King George VI in 1942, during the King's tour of U.S. airbases in the UK.
After the war he studied architecture at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and photographic science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, specializing in microphotography. His career in engineering, production, research and development as a member of the team at Itek Corporation involved the development of photo reconnaissance satellites under the Corona Program. This program helped to propel the U.S. ahead of the USSR in missile development. He later worked and retired from DRC in Wilmington, MA. Bill was an emeritus member and past chapter president of the Society for Imaging Science and Technology, Boston Chapter.
He was an active church member at First Baptist Church of Berwick, PA, First Baptist Church of Needham, MA, First Baptist of Rensselaer, NY, First Baptist Church of Reading, MA, as well as First Congregational Church, UCC, Hartland, VT, serving as Church School teacher, Sunday School Superintendant, Chairman of the Diaconate Board, Building Committee Chairman, and Chairman of Trustees.
He met his loving wife of 45 years, Sarah (Sue) Elizabeth (Firmin) Drumm singing in the choir at The First Baptist Church of Boston. He was predeceased by Sue and by his sister Alice (Drumm) Vogel.
Bill was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather who with his wife Sarah helped to create a valuable, nurturing compass for his family members. He was a man of integrity, strength and Christian leadership in their home. He wrote "Our Family", an autobiographical booklet to pass on the family story to future generations.
He leaves his children Daniel Drumm and wife Lois of Forestdale, MA; Martha Frances Camp and husband Raymond of Pennington, NJ; William Drumm and wife Cynthia of River Vale, NJ; and Susan Letitia Wilkes and husband Thomas of Londonderry, NH; nine grandchildren: Beth Drumm Mehaffey and husband James; Juan Daniel Drumm; Scott Camp and fiancée Catherine Vigliotti; Laura Camp Miller and husband Tony; David Drumm and fiancée Brittany Hines-Hill; April Drumm-Hewitt and husband Ryan; Cheryl Drumm Rice and husband Jeff; Rebecca Thorpe Sweet and husband Jason; and Daniel Thorpe and wife Elizabeth; and great-grandchildren Krysta Mehaffey, Charlotte Sweet, Ayden Thorpe, and Wyatt and Jacob LaVoie; and a sister Frances Crawford-Fixaris of New Smyrna Beach, FL.
Bill was active in the community having worked as a hospice volunteer, volunteer at the Montshire Museum and at the VA Hospital; he delivered Meals on Wheels and participated at the Dartmouth Memory Café. In Hartland he was a reader in the elementary school and library; he was a member of Aging in Hartland, Friends of the Library, the Nature Club, and the American Legion Post.
Bill was also an avid fly fisherman, and was known to his family as the fixer – repairing household items, carpentry, furniture, automobiles, lawn mowers and other mechanical devices and performing the interior construction work in the family's original Hartland house on Rice road.
Bill had a lifelong interest in lighthouses resulting from visiting Long Island's Montauk Light as a child, and singing the hymn "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" by Phillip Bliss.
A memorial service will be held October 4th at 3 pm at the First Congregational Church, UCC, 10 Station Road in Hartland, followed by a burial service in the Hartland Cemetery. A sharing time and refreshment will follow in the church fellowship hall.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Hartland Public Library.