William (Bill) Keeffe Baggott, 87, passed away peacefully on March 29, 2024, surrounded by family.
He was born on May 3, 1936, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Helen Gidley Baggott, a strong and shy bookkeeper, and William Baggott, a charmer known for his pratfalls and dancing.
After his father’s death, he was raised by and among incredible women, his mother, aunt and two sisters in Morgantown. He vividly remembered a joyful childhood that included roaming mountains dusted with coal ash.
He graduated from a five-year engineering program in three years at West Virginia University and served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves as a lieutenant commander. He got his law degree from George Washington University. In Washington, D.C., he met the love of his life, Glenda Smith Baggott.
They have four children, Kathleen Baggott, William Baggott and spouse Patricia Baggott, Melanie Rehberg and spouse Scott Rehberg, Julianna Baggott and spouse David Scott; 13 grandchildren, Sinclair and spouse Kristin, James and spouse Mary, Cecelia, Molly, Carly, Grace, Lorelei and spouse Lev, Henry, William, Phoebe and spouse Jordan, Finneas, Theo, and Othilia; four great-grandchildren, Lilia, Ava, Quinn, Lucian and counting. Bill and Glenda celebrated 64 years of marriage, an epic kind of love.
Bill worked for 30 years at DuPont, pro-bono for the ACLU, as a public defender and as head of the Newark Housing Authority, fighting for underserved communities. He was an advocate for civil rights for all.
He retired at age 56, becoming a pilot, host to foreign travelers and refugees, novelist, genealogist, professor of democracy in the Czech Republic after the fall of the USSR, a world-wide traveler, researcher, outdoorsman, sage advisor, official Irishman, and mainly, a full-time grandfather. An inventor of games and treasure hunts, he told people he loved them, was proud of them and thankful for them. He is remembered for his patience and incredible gratitude for being alive. His faith was founded on looking at the full humanity of every person you meet. He danced every day and on every occasion — with abandon.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill’s memory to the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware.
