William D. Williams | Fuel dealer, 92

William D. Williams, 92, of Bryn Mawr, president of the Delaware Valley Fuel Dealers Association in the 1960s, died Monday at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Mr. Williams took over his stepfather's business, J.E. Kunkel Fuel Oil Co. at 63d and Market Streets in West Philadelphia, in the 1950s and owned it until it was sold in the 1980s, said a daughter, Taffy Scheidt.

Born in West Philadelphia, Mr. Williams graduated from Upper Darby High School, where he was a gymnast. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps.

Though he had not flown before, his daughter said, Mr. Williams spent World War II as a flight instructor at Army airfields in Mississippi and Texas.

In 1959, Mr. Williams earned his bachelor's degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

"He went to night school; he did it the hard way," his daughter said. It took him eight years to complete his Wharton studies.

A member of the Union League and the Philadelphia Country Club, Mr. Williams also belonged to the Sugar Mill Country Club in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., where he had a winter home.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Williams is survived by his wife of 67 years, Thelma; sons William J. and James; daughters Blanche Kaier and Patti Curtin; 10 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. today at St. John Baptist Vianney Church, 354 Conshohocken State Rd., Gladwyne, followed by an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass there. Burial will be in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd.