Amherst Magazine William Joy '55

Deceased November 3, 2010

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In Memory

Bill Joy died Nov. 3, 2010, in Bellevue, Neb., surrounded by family members, following a battle with kidney disease complications. He was born in Northampton, Mass., on March 23, 1933, the son of William and Mary Davis Joy. Bill graduated from Amherst Regional High School in 1950 and then attended Tabor Academy for a year.

At Amherst, Bill was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and played football and baseball. Bill said his father's love of Amherst and its students as the college's policeman influenced Bill from childhood. He had an early introduction to the college, working at Valentine during his last two years of high school. His father let Bill accompany him through "every nook and cranny on and off the campus."

Immediately after college, Bill spent two years in the U.S. Army. After completing his military service, he joined the Central Intelligence Agency, where he experienced an exciting and fulfilling career for 38 years. Among his duty locations were the Pentagon, the Situation Room at the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department. For the most part, Bill felt his time with the CIA was a good exciting experience. He said they were great people with which to work--real professionals.

Classmate Hoc Noble said Bill told him about his days as a White House aide, about the wars in the Middle East, with such specificity and detail and intimate tone, that Hoc realized they were true. "He was self-effacing, modest, but you had to believe that he knew about what he was talking and that he was a most honorable and important guy."

In our 50th Reunion book, Bill proudly concludes that he was the first one in his family to graduate from college--and from "the fairest of them all!"

Rob Sowersby '55