Sadly, another addition to our Punahou74 prayer chain. William “Bill” Dickey Thacker passed away on Saturday, September 28.
Bill Thacker is a 13 year member of the Punahou School class of 1974.
Bill came to Punahou from a family with long Punahou ties. His great great aunt,
Mary Catherine Dimond, was one of the fifteen students who entered the school on its first day, July 11, 1842. He is also a member of the W.P. Alexander family from which three first-year students attended the school (James McKinney, Samuel Thomas and William DeWitt, the last also served as Punahou’s first alumnus President from 1864-1871, Trustee from 1875-1910 and is the person for whom Alexander Hall is named). More recently, he followed his father Herbert Dickey Thacker ’47 and attended school alongside his brother Peter ’75 and Mark ’78. Mark ’06 and Gracie ’08 are his niece and nephew (Peter’s children).
Throughout his time at Punahou Bill was the consummate student. His intellectual curiosity was constant.
I shared a classroom with him in 4th grade when, one day, he was excitedly pursuing the question of why, when it was closer to the sun, mountaintop air was colder than air found at sea level. After several fits and starts he came to the conclusion that the answer lay in the speed of the molecules.
I have revisited this time in my memory more than once over the years and have never failed to wonder how he ever came to make the observation in the first place. Was he right in his conclusion? I don’t know. But that wasn’t why I have remembered his unquenchable curiosity that day. How had he even made that observation? In 4th grade nonetheless.
Bill’s intellectual curiosity would never fail to waiver throughout his Punahou tenure. A scan of the yearbooks shows him pictured with like minded friends in math team, chess club, National Honor Society, and E.A.T. Club (no, don’t ask me what that last one was all about).
Given his inherent smarts, Bill’s next stop post-Punahou was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he earned a degree in Physics. He then went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his Masters in Physics. His PhD, yes in Physics, was earned at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
He enjoyed a career as a professor with thirty years spent at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. His Curriculum Vitae lists an impressive array of accomplishments.
Even more impressive is that, of the seven reviews of him made at “Rate my Professors,” all but one are a solid “Awesome.” My favorite was “Man it was a great time! Recommend quantum for anyone interested in how the world works.”
St. Louis University published an obituary of Bill that reviews his tenure. I encourage you to read it for more about his post-Punahou life.
Sorry to read this news. Condolences to his family and friends.
As another 13 year member, I attended many of Bill’s birthday parties as he did mine as kids. In 9th grade for my flag football team I picked him and Landis Lum first because they were the fastest guys I knew. We’ve lost so many classmates far too soon. May all of you who have gone before us Rest In Peace.
So sorry to hear of Bill’s passing. Thank you for the beautiful article. Sending peace to Bill’s family and friends.
Sad news about a brilliant and gentle soul. I shared many classes with Bill, and distinctly remember his fascination, in 6th grade, with Albert Einstein’s E=mc2 equation that he seemed to understand perfectly while the rest of us went glassy-eyed at his explanation. I’ll wager his intellectual energy still burns bright while grooving on quantum leapfrogs amongst infinite dimensions in the great beyond!