William Dennehy Passes Away

    WILLIAM J. DENNEHY, JR., died peacefully in his sleep at the Mandrin House of Hospice of the Chesapeake on Tuesday, January 29. He was 94.
    He was born April 17, 1918 in Baltimore, MD, the oldest son of artist William J.and Helen Beauchamp Dennehy. Raised in Northern New Jersey Bill graduated from Pompton Lakes High School and soon thereafter went to work for the Charles Scribner Publishing House in NYC. He was drafted into the Army of the United States on January 2, 1942 and retired after 25 years of active and reserve service as a Colonel. He graduated from LaSalle Collage in Philadelphia in 1949 and shortly thereafter went to work for the Defense Department. He ended his long career in the civil service as the U.S. representative on the Military Economic Council of NATO in Brussels.
    He then retired with his wife Mary Louise Dennehy in Heritage Harbor Annapolis, MD where he lived until two years ago. He spent the past two years as a resident of The Rutherford House assisted care facility in Davidsonville. Bill loved the outdoors and spent many hours hiking the Appalachian Trail, canoeing on local creeks and sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. He was active in his community where he spent many years on the Heritage Harbor budget committee and as an on camera interviewer for their local TV station. Proud of his Irish heritage, he could tell Pat and Mike stories for hours. He was a long time season ticket holder at Colonial Players, where for 27 years he stood in the cold with his wife to buy tickets for his family to see A Christmas Carol.
    His wife of 63 years, Mary Louise, died two years ago. Bill is survived by his son and daughter-in-law William J. Dennehy III and Mari Stanley Dennehy of Cambridge, MD, his daughter and son-in-law Gail and Harold Benson of Annapolis, MD, his son Mark R. Dennehy of Reader, WV, as well as his granddaughters Caitlin Dennehy Moyer and her husband Trevor of Medford, MA, Erin Benson of Towson, MD, Heather Benson of Annapolis, MD and his grand step-son and daughter-in-law Ben and Clair Stanley of Los Angles, CA and grand step-son David Benson of Dayton Ohio.
    His many friends are invited to a memorial service at 12:30 on Saturday, February 23 at the Blue Heron Pavilion in Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, MD. We request any donations be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake.