Boyce, VA: William Carson Bie, 85, of Boyce, VA, died Sunday, July 15th, 2018 of an apparent heart attack, at Commonwealth Senior Living, Front Royal, VA. He lived on his beloved farm for almost 50 years, until the end of 2017.
Mr. Bie was born in Silver Creek, on August 28, 1932, the son of the late Norman Roy and Evelyn Mae (Ehmke) Bie. He attended Alfred College of Agriculture and Technology and afterwards joined the Navy, where he served during the Korean Conflict.
While in the Navy, he flew Grumman S2F Trackers, known as a “Stoof”, from aircraft carriers, but spent most of that time in the Atlantic with one cruise in the Mediterranean. He flew off of the USS Monterey, USS Valley Forge and the USS Antietam. Mr. Bie set two records while in the Navy: he never had an “earned” wave-off for landing on a carrier and had 24 take-offs and landings in one day.
After his release from the Navy in January 1957, he remained in the reserves for a time and received training on flying jets, his dream. He worked for Eastern Airlines as a pilot, but then during the turmoil of the flight engineer strike of 1958, he worked as a flight engineer for a short while. When he retired, he had flown 34 years full-time with zero damaged aircraft or injured passengers. Mr. Bie also spent many years as a Captain of DC-9’s, based out of Washington, DC. He was an excellent pilot and took great pride in his abilities.
Mr. Bie greatly enjoyed sharing breakfast with the guys at McDonald’s in Watrerloo, Virginia and will miss them. Back in the day, he did the same with the folks at the old Soda Shop in Berryville, Virginia. Mr. Bie had a lifelong passion for cars, motorcycles and planes.
Survivors include three children, Roy William Bie, Janet Lynne Bocciardi, Scott William Foemmel Bie, two sisters, Marcia Ann Smith-Bie and Suzanne Russell. Also surviving are two grandsons Paul William Bie, Michael Roy Bie and a step-grandson Julian Foemmel Gaitero.
The family will celebrate his life at a private family reunion sometime this summer in upstate New York. Private Interment will be in Pioneer Cemetery, Forestville, the town where he grew up. Arrangements are by Riles & Woolley Funeral Home Forestville.
1 Comment
Gary Vice
Yes, Bill was a good pilot. I always enjoyed flying with him. He was always a gentleman and we became close friends. We hiked the trails near his farm and in the winter skied the close by slopes. Unfortunately many airline friendships ended when Eastern crashed and burned. I’m sorry to say I only saw Bill one time in the last thirty years and that was in 2013.
Gary Vice.