Chesapeake, Virginia – William Hartwell Bass Jr passed away peacefully on August 17, 2024 at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center in Chesapeake, VA. He was born on February 28, 1937 in Danville, VA. He was the son of William Hartwell Bass Sr and Myrtle Booth Bass. He graduated from James Monroe High School in Fredericksburg, VA in 1955 and North Carolina State in Raleigh, NC with a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1960 and a Master of Economics in 1970. He is survived by son Dr. Cameron (Dale) Bass and wife Kathy of Detroit, MI; son Lawrence Bass and wife Beth of Raleigh, NC; daughter Cynthia Bass of Raleigh, NC; and 8 grandchildren: Dr. Greg Bass (Adam) of Melbourne, AUS, Charlie Bass (Allison) of Durham, NC, Caitlin Bass of Charleston, SC; Rachel Bass, David Bass, and Alexander Bass of Raleigh, NC; and Casey Yelverton and Abby Claire Yelverton of Apex, NC. He also leaves behind his sister Norma Lee Bass Mears, and extended family including close step-granddaughter Brittany Todd Elliot (Billy and their children Braelynn and Branson). He was preceded in death by his first wife Claire Tolar Bass Kirven, his second wife Shirley Parker Todd Bass, and his granddaughter Ashley.

If you don’t count the time he spent with F.W. Orrick Tree Surgeon, SH Kress, and putting himself through college as a draftsman, Bill had two distinct careers. The first, starting in Raleigh, NC in the 1960’s, took him across Europe and Africa for ITT Corporation, eventually as a Director of Corporate Quality for ITT’s far flung operations. He worked at ITT Europe in the late 1970’s. He occasionally lived in Waterloo, Belgium with his family when he was not on the road for ITT. Following ITT’s dissolution of the entire New York headquarters Quality staff, he headed south.

He met his second wife, Shirley, when he settled in Virginia Beach, and they had 35 happy years together, eventually resettling to her childhood hometown of Chesapeake and marrying. This chance meeting led to Bill’s second career in Real Estate, first supporting Shirley in her highly successful real estate career with Rose & Womble Real Estate and then developing properties with Shirley. In their later years, Bill and Shirley travelled extensively, often on cruises compelled by the bargains he was able to score for various destinations he targeted. He was accused of valuing the bargain more than a particular destination, a charge he did not deny.

In his younger years, he was an expert Amateur Radio operator under the call sign W4UWS, producing morse code so fast that his children could not recognize any particular sequence of dots and dashes. He was well known for his humor, telling many stories interspersed with laughter. He quite enjoyed playing bridge, and a good meal.

A graveside service will be held at noon on Monday August 26, 2024 at Hollomon- Brown Funeral Home, Great Bridge Chapel and Chesapeake Memorial Gardens, 524 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA 23322.