William Lewis Buettner Sr.

William Lewis Buettner, Sr., of Centreville, MD, died peacefully on March 5, 2024. He was 90. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 68 years, Peggy June (Edwards) Buettner, who passed away in December 2020. They resided in Centreville since 1991. Bill was born November 14, 1933, in Baltimore City, the only child of John G. and Virginia E. Buettner. He grew up in the city, residing with his parents and grandparents William and Elizabeth Sadler at their home in Baltimore’s Pimlico neighborhood. A 1952 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, Bill married his sweetheart from North Carolina, Peggy Edwards, in August 1952. They lived in Ferndale and later in Glen Burnie, raising their family of seven children. They moved to the Eastern Shore in 1991 and were communicants at Our Mother of Sorrows in Centreville and St. Peter the Apostle in Queenstown. Bill became a Master Plumber at an early age, first working for his father’s plumbing and heating services business in Baltimore City, and later as a plumbing, mechanical, and HVAC foreman on large institutional, laboratory, and government construction projects in the Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia region. After running his own plumbing contracting company, W & T Buettner, for several years with his uncle, the late Thomas Buettner, Sr., Bill changed careers and became a vocational educator, teaching plumbing and trades in the Maryland prison system at Patuxent Institution in Jessup for more than 20 years. After he retired from full-time employment, he continued to work contractually at Patuxent Institution for several years and later as a plumbing and mechanical inspector for the City of Annapolis until he was 80 years old. Bill and his wife Peggy found great joy in hosting their family at their Centreville home. Known to be a detail-oriented perfectionist when it came to plumbing, mechanical, electrical, or other home-improvement projects, Bill found his joy working on his home or solving the plumbing and HVAC problems of his family, friends, and even his church. He might have left the plumbing profession, but it never left him. He also found great joy in collecting, repairing, and operating old toy trains, an interest that started in his early childhood and continued throughout his life. Bill was predeceased by his wife Peggy and daughter, Robin Shaw. He is survived by his children, daughter Karin and her husband Neil Grasso; daughter Cassandra and her husband Michael Forcucci; daughter René and her husband Edward Kratzke; son William Buettner, Jr., and his wife Marilee Tortorelli; daughter Mary and her husband Robert Styron; and son John and his wife Rita Buettner; 10 grandchildren; and three great grandchildren. Viewings will be held at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home in Centreville, MD, on Thursday, March 14, 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 a.m., Friday, March 15 at St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, Queenstown, MD. Internment will follow Mass in St. Peter’s cemetery behind the church.

William Lewis Buettner Sr.

November 14, 1933 - March 5, 2024