It is with great sadness that the family of William (Bill) L Kilmer announce the passing of their beloved husband, father and grandfather in March 2017, at the age of 84.  Bill’s family, though deeply grieving his loss, find some comfort in his release from the long-term, debilitating pain he valiantly fought until the end.

Bill spent his happy childhood in the small town of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.  He was an avid sportsman in high school,  nicknamed “Atlas” by friends, and excelled at baseball, basketball and later, track and field. It was through his success running the 440-yard race that he was awarded a scholarship to Penn State University to study Electrical Engineering, where he also completed his graduate work. Later, Bill would fondly recall his track days, which included traveling the country to compete at the national level.

Following his years at Penn State, Bill went on to pursue his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. It is during this time that he met his lifelong partner and best friend, Virginia Large.  Bill’s career took the young family to Montana State University, Princeton University, MIT, and Michigan State University before settling in Amherst in 1971, where Bill accepted a position at the University of Massachusetts in the Computer Science department.  Bill remained at UMass through to his 2005 retirement from the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department.

Bill’s contributions to the advancement of brain science were significant, working in close partnership with the pioneers of neuroscience, at MIT and beyond.   Modeling brain activity throughout his career, Bill focused increasingly on practical robotics.   

Sharing with his family a deep love of the outdoors, Bill led a very active lifestyle, and was known in the community as a dedicated horseman for several years.  Aside from his professional interests, Bill’s love of mathematics, history, philosophy and poetry remained strong throughout his life and his breadth of subject mastery was impressively vast.  

Bill will be lovingly remembered by his dear wife of 60 years, Virginia, his surviving children, Janice (Gerry), Patti (Wayne) and Cindy (Raed).  The memories of Bill will also be cherished by his five loving grandchildren: William, Kenza, Rebecca, George and Jannet. Bill was predeceased by his daughter Ellen.

Memorial Service for Bill:  Saturday, August 5, 2:00 p.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church, 98 North Maple St, Hadley, MA.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Bill’s memory to the Wesley United Methodist Church.