Birkett, William H.

William H. Birkett, known to all simply as “Bill,” died on Saturday morning, August 13, 2016. His wife, Barbara, was with him. Bill is the son of the late Harry and Lena Birkett. He has four children, William B., Richard, Mark, and Meredith, three grandchildren, Katie, William, and Connor, and one great-grandchild, Henry. Bill’s sister and only sibling, Midge, passed away in December 2015.

Bill grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, attending schools there, and later attending the University of Illinois where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics Education. He later attended the University of Michigan earning an MBA in Accounting and becoming a Certified Management Accountant.

Bill’s career life was entirely connected with the printing industry, comprising over 70 years (and probably rivaling the number of years that Ben Franklin was in the industry). At 13 years old, he bought a printing press and began printing business cards and other small jobs in his home. Then at 17 years old, he bought the Oak Park Printing and Stationery Company and recruited friends to work for him.

After earning his B.S. degree, he worked for McManus, John, and Adams Advertising Agency in Detroit where he became the Sales Promotion Operations Manager. During this time, he started a print platemaking business in suburban Detroit and also attended the University of Michigan. At this time, Bill met his wife, Barbara, who was also in the MBA program at Michigan.

With the MBA in hand, Bill sold his business and began a teaching career in printing at Rochester Institute of Technology. Bill wrote a book, Graphic Arts Estimating, that was published by Printing Industries of America. He also developed a computerized estimating program whose coding was done on an early HP programmable calculator.

His students gave Bill a great roast one year that included one student’s dressing in Bill’s “uniform”: a white dress shirt, dark slacks, suspenders, no tie (after tenure), and the perennial can of Tab in his hand. Bill retired from RIT about 15 years ago.

Besides his love for printing, Bill was an avid reader and amateur photographer. His favorite football team by far was the Michigan Wolverines. Before the availability of the Big Ten Network in Rochester that carries Michigan games, Bill would park his car diagonally in the driveway, or whatever way was required, to get radio reception of Detroit’s WJR that broadcasted the Michigan games. His neighbors often wondered why Bill spent so much of his Saturdays sitting in his car!

Bill enjoyed taking his family on vacations, especially to Ann Arbor. These vacations always involved a visit to Michigan’s M-Den for t-shirts and Michigan souvenirs. Besides Ann Arbor, family vacations, really road trips, were often taken to Myrtle Beach.

A humorous incident occurred on one short road trip in New York when Barbara adjusted one of the children in his child seat in the backseat of the car and then closed the back door. Before Barbara could open the front door to get into the car, Bill took off in a cloud of dust, leaving Barbara standing on the side of the road . . . he did return to pick her up!

Bill was an extremely generous person. A particular example of this was when he graciously welcomed his in-laws to live with the family when it became clear they needed help. He also was the volunteer bookkeeper for his church for many years.

A loving husband and father and always a true friend, Bill’s gentleness and kindness will be sorely missed by his family.

Calling hours Wednesday, 5-7 PM at the Richard H. Keenan Funeral Home (Egypt location), 7501 Pittsford Palmyra Rd., Fairport. Funeral Mass, Thursday, 10 AM at St. John of Rochester Church, Fairport. Interment, St. Mary’s Cemetery, Fairport. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Perinton Ambulance Corps.