Vietnam veteran, mentor to engineers of color, former resident
Bill Picott. (Courtesy photo)
William Casselle Picott III of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, and Harwich Port, died peacefully on Sept. 3, 2020, from COVID-19-related complications.
Born in Hampton, Virginia, on Oct. 9, 1939, to William C. Picott Jr. and Dorothy (Bright) Picott, Bill graduated from Huntington High School in Newport News, Virginia, in 1957. Bill began his freshman year at the University of Kansas, where he pledged Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity with noted fraternity brothers Wilt Chamberlain and Don Cheadle Sr. Bill acted as Wilt Chamberlain’s first press agent. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration and industrial management from Virginia State University in 1962, where he was vice president of the student government and chapter president of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He was enrolled in the ROTC program and, upon graduation, received his commission as a second lieutenant.
Bill served in Vietnam from 1963 to 1964 and was responsible for communicating critical news events to the U.S. press. Late one night in Saigon, Bill witnessed Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge surreptitiously leaving by car ahead of what is now known as the 1963 South Vietnamese coup d’état. Bill immediately radioed back to the States to officially report the event. Upon his safe return from Vietnam, Bill began a career in computer technology and management in the Greater Philadelphia area. He remained an active member of the U.S. Army Reserves and retired with the rank of captain.
Bill earned a master’s degree in management from Central Michigan University in 1974, and completed senior executive programs at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and MIT’s Sloan School of Management in 1979 and 1990, respectively.
Bill spent 37 years working in the information technology industry, most notably with Digital Equipment Corporation. He was the first person of color to lead DECUS, Digital Equipment Computer Users’ Society. He went on to manage the Terminals and Printing Engineering division. After 28 years with the company, Bill retired in 2003 as the director of Hewlett Packard’s North American technical sales support call center. Throughout his career, Bill championed the hiring and mentoring of engineers of color through the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). He also represented Digital on the White House’s Committee for Science and Technology at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Bill took pleasure in photography, videography, tennis, and golf, and was a longtime fan of the Boston Celtics, the New England Patriots, and the Dallas Cowboys (as long as they were winning). Bill prided himself on being an engaged father, and volunteered as a youth baseball and softball coach and Cub Scout leader. In the late 1970s, Bill played the role of Santa Claus for the Congregational Church Christmas Fair, redefining stereotypes by being the first Black man to play the role in Harvard. His warm personality inspired children and parents alike to embrace inclusion and the spirit of the holiday.
Bill contributed his considerable talents to a variety of charitable causes, including the parents’ committees at Phillips Academy Andover and Groton School, as trustee and chairman of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer from 1980 to 2003, and as head of the deacons and moderator of the Congregational Church of Harvard. He was an active member of Pilgrim Church in Harwich Port and the First Congregational Church of Sarasota, Florida.
Bill is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Hill Picott of Lakewood Ranch, Florida; his three children, Philip J. Picott of Bradenton, Florida, Allison Picott (Michael Goldstein) of Boston, and Andrea Picott (Josh Sternfeld) of New York, New York; his granddaughter, Margaux Sternfeld; his brother, Theodore Picott of Clinton, Maryland; and a host of other family and friends.
Bill will be remembered for his exuberant spirit, his love of debate, his preternatural ability to turn strangers into friends, and his steadfastness in all areas of his life.
In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests gifts be made in Bill’s memory to Cape Abilities (www.capeabilities.org) and The Tidewell Foundation (https://tidewellhospice.org/home/tidewellfoundation/donate-now).
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