- Date Of Birth: September 1, 1953
- Date Of Death: January 20, 2016
- State: West Virginia
William “Bill” Glaser died January 20th, 2016 in Salem, West Virginia from respiratory disease that he had fought for 10 years. He was hospitalized many times in recent years, and his family is thankful that at the end he was in a comfortable, safe place where kind people were taking care of him, and that he died peacefully in his sleep.
Bill was born to John and Jeanne Glaser in Morristown, New Jersey in 1953 and moved to Bethesda, Maryland in 1962. He graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda and studied cartography at Montgomery College. His family and friends remember him as a gentle soul with a great sense of humor and a deep interest in many subjects. Bill could knowledgeably discuss topics from history and politics to science and technology. He loved cartography, the history of railroading, and every kitten and needy stray cat he ever met.
From the time he was a toddler Bill’s first and great love was music of all kinds. He would stand in front of the stereo and “conduct” the orchestraa”the louder and more rousing the music, the better. Bill took up the trumpet in elementary school and was fortunate to meet the great Louis Armstrong back stage at a concert in D.C. Armstrong offered the ultimate encouragement when he told Bill, “Keep on blowin’, kid, keep on blowin’.” From that moment, Bill’s path in life was set, and he went on to spend many years playing as a professional musician in the D.C. area. Even when he no longer had the lung power to play, Bill still thought musically and appreciated the best in music.
After he became ill, the internet was a lifeline that kept Bill in touch with the world and with friends old and new. He developed a large and growing list of friends on Facebook with whom he shared almost daily posts and continued to send posts until a few days before his passing. Bill’s family and friends are scattered widely from Virginia to Alaska and Hawaii; however, his true community was in the extended community of musicians, artists and friends online. Bill is survived by his sister, Barbara Berg and her husband Ron of Juneau, Alaska, by nieces in Virginia and nephews in Oregon and Hawaii. He was pre-deceased by his parents and by his brother John Carl Glaser.
