On October 1st, 2020 William ‘Bill’ Ferdinand Hunteman Junior died. He passed after a brief fight with COVID. He was 83 years old.
During his life William accomplished many extraordinary things.
He was born and grew up in Jacksonville Florida, graduating from Andrew Jackson High School. After High school, he attended Marion Institute achieving his Associates degree. He achieved a Baccalaureate and Master’s degrees from Rollins College in Florida.
A licensed Amateur Radio operator since age 15, Bill (W4FFZ) participated in the hobby and operated up until he entered Lineville Nursing Home - 66 years of operating.
He joined the US Army, working on the Nike Hercules Missile system as an instructor.
In 1962 he went to work for Chrysler aerospace working on the Jupiter IRBM as an instructor at Redstone Arsenal, teaching NATO troops in its’ operation and maintenance.
In 1964, he was transferred to Kennedy Space Center, to work on the Apollo/Saturn space program. At first working on High Pressure gas systems for the Apollo Spacecraft. One of his duties was in the Command Module white room assisting in getting the astronauts systems ready for launch. After Apollo 11, he went to work in the Private Sector.
After forth-five years as a Government contractor he began one of his proudest achievements - starting a government contracting company with his son Randy and Randy’s wife Amber. He enjoyed working with his son and daughter in law.
He is survived by his Son, William ‘Randy’ Hunteman, Amber Hunteman his Daughter in Law, his daughter Jennifer, as well as five grandchildren: Heather, William, Kelyn, Kian, and Matthew. In addition, he is survived by his Step children Tommy, Kathy, Kristy and Billy.
He was preceded in death by his Mother, Bessie Alvina Anderson and his Father William Ferdinand Hunteman Sr, a native of Bremerhaven Germany.
He was known by many and will be missed by all who had the honor of knowing him.
In lieu of flowers or donations for the family, and in keeping with Bill’s love of animals, please make a memorial donation to the Clay or Randolph County Alabama Animal shelters or to your favorite animal charity.