William F. Sandherr

William "Bud" Franklin Sandherr, 89, of Fountain Hill, died peacefully in his sleep as the result of a heart attack on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, CA.

He was born on August 28, 1921 in East Mauch Chuck, Pennsylvania, now Jim Thorpe, the son of the late William James Sandherr and Etta Elmira Diehm Sandherr Kist.

William proudly served his country as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps First Aviation Engineer Battalion during WWII. He arrived at Guadalcanal October 10, 1942 on the USS Zeilin. The Battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for service on Guadalcanal, First Marine Division, Guadalcanal's first offensive. He served at Tinian and Okinawa.

William, a loving husband, was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, MaryAnn C. Wagner Sandherr. He will be lovingly remembered by his daughters, Eileen G. Sandherr of West Barnstable, Massachusetts, and Barbara Sandherr Brunner of Thousand Oaks, California, and her husband, Alvin J. Brunner formerly of Allentown, as well as three grandchildren, Matthew R. and Michael R. McKinstry, of New York City, formerly of West Barnstable, and Jonathan S. Brunner of California.

William retired from Bethlehem Steel Corporation where he worked as a shearman in the Combination Mill.

He was a parishioner of St. Ursula Catholic Church, Fountain Hill.

Services have been entrusted to Connell Funeral Home, Bethlehem, Pa. and are private at the convenience of the family.