Manchester Obituary: William Bourn, 72

William G. Bourn, 72 of Glastonbury, loving husband and best friend for thirty-seven years of Kathleen (Klimas) Bourn, passed away Thursday, September 3, 2015 at home after a long illness.

Bill was born in Manchester on November 17, 1942, son of the late Allan and Katherine (Deering) Bourn and was raised in Manchester. He served his country in the US Air Force, spending thirty-nine months in Germany during the 1960’s, and was a longtime resident of Glastonbury.

Bill retired from Aetna Life & Casualty in 2003, working and maintaining the software for the mainframe computers, especially the VM/CMS environment. Since retirement he has been actively involved in LEGO FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), coaching a FLL (FIRST Lego League) team in Glastonbury for the past ten years and mentoring the Tomahawk FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) team at Glastonbury High School. He is a member of NELUG (New England Lego Users Group) which facilitates adults in the sharing of the LEGO hobby. At various LEGO user group conventions, Bill assisted with the Great Ball Contraption and provided some very interesting GBC units. In Glastonbury, Bill held computer “help” classes at the River Front Community Center and conducted an after school robotics program at Gideon Welles School. For the New England Air Museum, he assisted with the “water rockets” events.

Besides his wife, Bill is survived by his brother, James Bourn and his wife Maureen (Eddy) Bourn of Vernon, his sister Katherine (Bourn) Gowdy and her husband Donald Gowdy of South Windsor, and several nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 10:30 AM at the Center Congregational Church, 11 Center Street, Manchester. Burial will follow in the Buckland Cemetery in Manchester. Visiting hours for family and friends will be Tuesday, Sept. 8, from 6 PM to 8 PM at the Watkins Funeral Home, 142 East Center Street, Manchester.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to your children’s field of interest.

To leave a message for his family please visit www.holmes-watkinsfuneralhomes.com