William Tinsman Jr.

By: Tom Liebmann The Intelligencer

William Tinsman Jr. died Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. He was 91.

Born Sept. 7, 1918, he was the son of William Tinsman Sr. and Emma Fell Tinsman.

He was the husband of Susan Dolph Tinsman for 66 years.

He was the father of William E. Tinsman and Melody Hunt, Thomas F. Tinsman, Kyle Tinsman, Patricia A. Tinsman and Richard Wallace, James O. Tinsman and Tisha Tinsman, and the late Peter Tinsman.

He was the brother of Daniel W. Tinsman of Lumberville, and Margaret T. Welch of Doylestown; and the grandfather of seven: Oliver Joseph, Tisha Marie, the late Poppy Sophia, Phoebe Susan, Thomas Oliver Fell Jr., Victoria and William Hunt Tinsman.

William attended Greenhill Elementary School from 1924 to 1932; Doylestown High School from 1932 to 1936; and Rutgers University from 1936 to 1940.

He served in the Chemical Warfare Service Band, Edgewood Arsenal, in Maryland from April 1941 until May 1942.

A veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, he served from May 1942 to August 1945, and flew 21 combat missions from England, over Europe. He was a co-pilot on a B-24 Liberator bomber that was shot down over Germany and was interned in Switzerland for nine months before escaping. He was discharged in August 1945.

He was a partner in William Tinsman & Sons from 1940 to 1970 and president of Tinsman Bros. Inc. from 1970 to 1988, where he remained active in the office daily until recently.

He served as bank director for Doylestown National, now PNC., from the late 1940s to the early 1990s. He was Solebury Township Supervisor from 1952 to 1958 and chairman from 1954 to 1958.

Mr. Tinsman was a leader for Boy Scouts of America Troop 64, Carversville, for several years. He was a member of Solebury Friends Meeting, where he served as treasurer 20 years and trustee for nearly 50 years. He was a member of the Phillips Mill Community Association, having served on the board of directors for several years and the house/grounds committee.

Mr. Tinsman was cofounder of the Paunacussing Watershed.

A graveside service will be held privately.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Solebury Friends Meeting c/o Marian Hepburn, 20 Leif Erikson Ave., Princeton, NJ 08540 or Doylestown Hospital Hospice, 875 N. Easton Road, Doylestown, PA 18902.

 

October 29, 2009