William Alden Fickett ’54 died on October 5, 2006, in Longview, Washington.
Born on October 10, 1932, in Bangor, he prepared for college at Bridgton Academy and became a member of Theta Delta Chi Fraternity at Bowdoin. Following his graduation in February of 1954, he taught in the high school in Union for a semester and then went on active duty in the U.S.Army as a second lieutenant. Before his retirement in 1978, he served a tour of duty in Germany from 1957 to 1960, two tours in Vietnam, in 1965-66 and 1971-72, and in a post at the NATO Supreme Allied Powers Headquarters in Belgium from 1972 to 1975. His military decorations included two Legion of Merit awards, two Meritorious Service Medals, a Bronze Star, and two Army Commendations. He retired in 1978 as a lieutenant colonel. In 1965, he received a master of business administration degree from Mississippi State University and during his attendance there was elected to Phi Kappa Phi National Scholastic Fraternity and to Beta Gamma Sigma National Business Fraternity.After his retirement from the Army, he moved to Portland, OR, where he became the administrator for a large law firm, from which he retired in 1995. During this time, he was an adjunct professor of law office management at Portland Community College. He was the first president of the Portland Chapter of the National Association of Uniform Services and was also president of the Oregon Legal Management Association and the Portland Chapter of National Sojourners, a military Masonic organization. He was a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the Shrine. He was married in 1956 to Glory Henkel, who died in 1993, and is survived by his second wife, Gisela Kauble Fickett, whom he married in 1996; two sons, William A. Fickett, Jr. ’80 and David M. Fickett ’81, both of Vancouver, WA; a daughter, Charlotte Fickett of Issaquah, WA; a stepson, Martin Kauble of Fairfield, IL; two brothers, Lewis P. Fickett ’47 of Fredericksburg,VA, and Colonel Richard K. Fickett ’57 of Herndon,VA; and three grandsons.