William E. Voorhest St., Augustine, FL

William E. Voorhest, born January 25, 1922, died November 12, 2009, Former Grumman VP. William "Bill" Voorhest was a descendant of original Dutch settlers of Long Island.

He graduated from Hicksville High School in 1940 and in 1941 went to work at Grumman Aircraft as an aircraft mechanic. Bill married Helen Daly in 1942. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and served in the Pacific in World War II as an Aviation Machinists Mate. After receiving honorable discharge in 1945, Bill returned to Grumman in 1946 where he rose steadily, becoming manager of Plant 5 where he lead a team of 1,500 technicians who assembled the Lunar Module for Apollo 11, in the first manned landing on the moon in 1969.

He saw his assignment on the Lunar Module through to completion as Manager of Assembly and Test at Kennedy Space Center up until the time of launch. Returning to Grummans Bethpage, NY facility Bill was appointed Manufacturing Manager of the Navys F-14 "Tomcat" in its early stages of development. In 1976 he went with Grummans F-14 contract to Iran as Operations Manager. In 1978, Bill was Manufacturing Manager of the first Space Shuttle wings for the "Columbia" as contracted to Grumman. Bill retired in 1987 as Vice- President of Security and Corporate Services receiving written congratulations from President Reagan for 46 years of service.

A long time resident of Stony Brook, NY, Bill moved to St. Augustine, FL in 1996. He is survived by Helen Voorhest, his wife of 67 years; daughter Arlene Levin and sons William Voorhest and John Voorhest. Craig Funeral Home Crematory Memorial Park is in charge of the arrangements.