William “Bill” Edward Bausch, 79, of Damariscotta, passed away at the Harbor View Cottage in Newcastle, on the morning of March 14, 2024.
Bill was born on Aug. 5, 1944 in Schenectady, N.Y. while his father was deployed in the Navy during WWII. His parents, William George and Mary Dawson Bausch, raised their family in Rochester and West Falls, N.Y. Bill graduated from Loomis Chaffee boarding school in 1962, and then Princeton University in 1966 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. He began his career designing helicopters at Sikorsky Aircraft in Connecticut. With his wife Wendy, they raised their three children: William (aka Beaver), Jeff, and Betsey in Newtown, Conn. During this time, Bill served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT and earned his pilot’s license for small aircraft.
He moved to Greenwich, Conn. in 1985 where he met Mary Stephens and they married in 1987. They remained there for nearly 20 years, where Bill served as a computer tech for many nonprofits, eventually retired, and remained actively involved as a volunteer in his community. In Greenwich, he found his singing voice as a tenor, and sang in the church choir, the Greenwich Choral Society, and the a cappella group The Off Sounders.
Bill and Mary moved to Damariscotta in 2005. There, he immersed himself in the community and truly loved living on Biscay Pond with lake access and boating, canoeing, and kayaking. Bill was a master gardener volunteer, and a talented woodworker who crafted canoes and kayaks.
As a newly relocated and retired “semi-geezer,” he was rarely idle over the last 19 years, he helped lead the boards for The Carpenter’s Boat Shop, the Pemaquid Watershed Association, Skidompha Library, Tapestry Singers, and the Second Congregational Church of Newcastle UCC, as well as providing IT advice/support for many other local organizations. Bill was a generous giver of his time, treasure, and talent, quietly sharing donations and support for those in need. A consummate volunteer, he was quiet and unassuming, the take-no-credit, do-all-the-hard-stuff, and get-it-done person folks could always count on.
Bill will be remembered as a kind and inordinately generous man who truly adored his family and friends. His was a life well lived.
Survivors include Bill’s wife, Mary Bausch; his sister, Carolyn Bausch, of Middlebury, Vt.; his children, William Bausch, wife HaMy Vu, and their daughter, Tessa of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., Jeffrey Bausch, wife Jenna, and their children, Ryan, Benjamin, Lila, and Gavin, of Holliston, Mass., Betsey Bausch Beamer, husband Paul, and their children, Kyan and Taitym, of Erie, Colo.; the mother of his children, Wendy Davenson, of Erie, Colo.; as well as his stepdaughters, Toni Ritchie, Nancy Nanos, and Deb McLarty, of Canada. He was predeceased by his much-loved younger sister, Barbie, in 1994.
On behalf of Bill and his family, we extend our most heartfelt thanks for the extraordinary care he received from his many doctors, PAs, specialists, nurses, CNAs, social workers, and support staff. We are beyond grateful to Miles Hospital, the Memory Care team at Lincoln Home’s Harbor View Cottage, as well as the Beacon Hospice team.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop
Gifts in Bill’s memory would be welcomed by any of the organizations serving our communities and our world, or choose one that resonates with you by considering the following: The Carpenter’s Boat Shop, 440 Old County Road, Pemaquid, ME 04558; Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 333, Damariscotta, ME 04543; Tapestry Singers, P.O. Box 666, Newcastle, ME 04553; Second Congregational Church of Newcastle UCC, P.O. Box 243, Newcastle, ME 04553; The Lincoln Home, 22 River Road, Newcastle, ME 04553; or Beacon Hospice, c/o Amedisys Foundation, 3854 American Way, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA 70816.
A celebration of his life will be arranged for late spring.
Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main St., Damariscotta, ME 04543. Condolences, and messages for his family, may be expressed by visiting stronghancock.com.
