William F. Quilty Jr., of Levittown, known as Bill Quilty to family and friends, a retired electrical engineer for the Ford Motor Company, died Friday morning at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa. He was 81 years old. Bill was born and raised in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia to William F. Quilty Sr., and Kathryn Staudenmaier Quilty. He attended Nativity B.V.A. grade school where he graduated first in his class and subsequently won an academic scholarship to La Salle College High School. At La Salle, Bill ran cross-country, track, was chief Drum Major of the marching band and co-editor of the Wisterian. Bill entered University of Pennsylvania in 1948, again on scholarship. He ran track his freshman year for the Penn Quakers and also twirled the baton his first two years and became Drum Major his second two; performed on the Paul Whiteman T.V. show; and, twirled for the Thunderbirds of the George H. Imhof American Legion Post. He was elected "All-American Twirler" and wrote a book containing the best methods of twirling entitled "Esoteric Baton Twirling" which was published by The Dance Masters of America, Inc. Bill holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and has done additional work at Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Farleigh-Dickerson University, and in later years earned a masters degree in electrical engineering from Penn State University. After graduation from the University of Pennsylvania, Bill served with the U.S. Army in Japan as a Radiation Specialist and was also Drum Major of the 291st Army Band in 1954. He was also a member of the "Reilly Raiders National Championship Senior Drum and Bugle Corp (1955-56). He has taught many baton twirling groups including "Bills Brats" and the "Willyettes", as well as teaching at St. Joseph's School in Camden, Camden Catholic H. S., La Salle H. S., Bishop Egan High School in Levittown and St. Matthew's in Conshohocken. Bill was with the Philco-Ford Corporation for 20 years, then Ford Motor Company and later with its Aerospace Division, and with Vistion Automotive Systems, when he retired in the early 1990s. During his nearly 50 years at Ford he served as an engineer, supervisor and manager and Programs Coordinator for several Automotive Electronic Products. His career as an engineer became international in the 1970s with extensive work in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Eindhoven, the Netherlands. For nearly 30 years beginning in the early 1960s, Bill was the drill instructor for the world famous Cardinal Dougherty High School Marching Band. During his time with the Band they performed for Presidents and at two NFL championships. In 1966 the Band and Drill Team performed in Europe for Pope Paul VI, Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, and the King and Queen of Holland. On this tour they won the World Music Championship in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Mr. Quilty also devised a scoring system for high school band field show competitions, whereas the band earned a rating instead of a point score. This rating system is still used in marching competitions today. In recent years, Bill also was an active member of Connstatters Volksfest-Verein, the American Legion Post 0960, Levittown, and the St. Christopher's 50+ Club. Bill enjoyed spending his summers at Jersey Shore Community of Brigantine. Bill is survived by his wife of 54 years, Connie, his three children, William F. Quilty III, of Philadelphia, Kathleen Quilty Mahoney, of Richboro, and John J. Quilty and two grandsons, John Mahoney Jr., of Richboro, and Michael Mahoney, of Richboro, and a son-in-law, John Mahoney Sr., of Richboro. He is also survived by his sister, Helene Foley, of Philadelphia. Bill was also the brother of the late Kay Lattomus. Family and friends are invited to call on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. at Queen of the Universe Church, 2443 Trenton Rd., Levittown where his funeral mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Rite of Committal will follow at Washington Crossing National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions to a charity of the donors choice would be appreciated.
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