Obituary

It is with great sadness that the family of William Joseph Porter, Jr., a twenty-nine-year resident of Laguna Niguel, announce his passing on the sixteenth of December at a residential care facility in Laguna Niguel.

Born on October 25, 1927, in Dayton, Ohio, Bill attended Corpus Christi Elementary School, then Chaminade High School, an all-boys school, in Dayton, Ohio. Early on, he sang in the boys’ choir and, throughout his schooling, received good grades without special effort. In 1945, the USA was at war with Germany and Japan. Students with better grades were enrolled at the University of Dayton (UD) mid-senior year to obtain a year or more of college before entering service, and Bill, at age seventeen, entered UD. With the war ending in August, 1945, Bill worked at Delco, then the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, then Dayton Power and Light. When the Korean War began in 1950, Bill was assigned to an Engineering Battalion and posted to Germany and Italy. His responsibilities included working in the mailroom, then maintaining IBM machines. Discharged, IBM required a college degree for hiring. Bill returned to UD and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1956 with a BSEE.

During this time, Bill met the love of his love, Mary Margaret, who was pursuing her nursing education at St. Elizabeth Hospital of Nursing in Dayton, Ohio. Fixed up on a blind date, they went for a movie and snacks, and the rest was history. They married and set off on a cross-country honeymoon. Bill began work with Hughes Aircraft, and the company paid for his Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from his beloved University of Southern California. Bill worked for Hughes Aircraft for thirty years, the company moving him to MIT Instrumentation Lab in Cambridge, MA, when he and Mary wished to return back East and, later, back again to the West. Bill and Mary were married over fifty years, and had five children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Bill loved his family and friends, and enjoyed his retirement years tremendously. Bill and Mary traveled frequently with the Old Farts Club, and kindly helped their children with their children. Bill will be forever remembered by his daughter, Laura Porter Simko, and three sons, William J. Porter III, George Lambert Porter, and Clement Hill Porter. He will also be held in the heart of his sister, Sara Jane Porter, as well as his son- and daughters-in-law, Tom and Christa, his grandchildren, Joey, Marissa, Sarah, Sara, Emma, Jackie, and CJ, and his great-grandchild, Xodi.

O’Connor Mortuary has been entrusted with arrangements for services and memorial gifts. A Catholic traditional funeral mass at Santiago de Compostela Church in Lake Forrest will be given on Thursday, December 21, at 10:00 AM. An informal vigil will be held on Friday, December 22, from 8:00 – 8:30 AM at O’Connor Mortuary and will be followed by the 10:00am graveside service at Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest..