William T. Eiffert

William "Bill" Truesdell Eiffert

Passed away at SpringMeade Health Center in Tipp City, Ohio on Sunday, September 4, 2011. He was born June 6, 1916 to Curt Eiffert and Kathryn (Truesdell) Eiffert of Dayton, Ohio, who preceded him in death.

Graduated Fairview High School in 1934 and Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, in 1938 with a degree in Civil Engineering. He began his career in Dayton, Ohio and worked for the City of Dayton Planning Board and Zoning Appeals as a draftsman in 1938-39. From 1939 to 1941 he worked at the U. S. Public Health Service in Cincinnati analyzing and compiling data relating to industrial waste polluting the Ohio River. They sent him to Harvard for an intense sanitary engineering course Jan-April of 1942.

He was a member of the choir at Grace United Methodist Church where he had been baptized as an infant. He met Constance Ruth Thomson in 1941 and they were married April 26, 1942 at Grace Church. They moved to Seattle, Washington, where he was stationed in the U. S. Public Health Service. They lived in various locations throughout Washington State until they returned to Dayton in 1948. They re-joined Grace Church and the choir and continued to sing into the 1980's. In 1948, he worked for R.L. Woolpert Co. as sewage treatment designer. In 1949 he became a design engineer for the City of Dayton Bureau of Sewers. In 1950 he became the assistant to Ned Pollard who was chief of the Bureau of Sewer Design for the city. In 1953 he became a Water Works Engineer and the superintendent of the city division of water distribution. In 1956 he became the Assistant Director of the City Water Department and became the Director in 1958, a position he held until late 1970. On 12/1/1970, he officially began as Chief Engineer of the Miami Valley Conservancy District, a position his father held from 1924 until 1950. He joined the American Water Works Association in October 1945 and was recognized for his 65 year membership in the book, "History of Ohio's Water Systems," published in 2010. He became a private consulting engineer in 1973 and continued to work into the 1980's.

He and his wife built a summer cottage near Pelican Lake, Wisconsin in 1976 where they spent their summers for over 30 years. He attended the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Rhinelander, Wisconsin during the summer.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of nearly 69 years, Connie.

He is survived by two children, Marilyn Kathryn Riggs of Phoenix, Arizona and Robert Curt Eiffert of Alexandria, Virginia; two grandchildren, Todd Riggs and Christina Riggs, both of Phoenix; and three great grandsons in Phoenix.

He was also preceded in death by one infant son, William, who died in 1944; and by his two siblings, Jane Kohler of Wilmington, North Carolina and James Eiffert of Houston, Texas.

He will be remembered for his kindness and generosity to others, and his unfailing devotion to his wife and family.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, October 1 at 10 a.m. at Grace United Methodist Church, 1001 Harvard Blvd., Dayton, 45406. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to Grace Church (address preceding), or to the historic Engineers Club of Dayton Foundation, 110 E. Monument Ave., Dayton, 45402.