WILLIAM VAUGHN RICE, JR. was born on 5 December 1926 in Hiawassee, Georgia. His father was a lawyer; his mother a nurse. Bill graduated from Towns County High School, Hiawassee, Georgia in 1943, and spent the following year at the Georgia Military College before entering West Point. His first assignment after graduation took him to Texas, where we were married in Houston on 24 August 1950.

Next came a brief assignment to Mather Air Force Base, California then back to Texas to Carswell Air Force Base and the 11th Bomb Wing. For the next seven years it was duty on the giant B-36, and many one- and two-month assignments to North
Africa, England, Labrador and Yucca Flat, Nevada to test the B-36 in atomic bomb drops. Shortly after we met, he told me his second career would be as a college profes- sor. In 1958 he attended the Air Force Institute of Technology, Dayton, Ohio where he received an MBA. From there he went to the Korean Air Academy as an advisor. That duty also took him on a brief assignment to Japan and Vietnam. In his tenth month in Korea his parents died in a car accident, resulting in a compassionate re-assignment to Dobbins Air Force Base, Marietta, Georgia.

In 1961 came the assignment that would lead to the Ph.D. and college professorship: Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge with the ROTC faculty. With only the dissertation lacking, in 1966 we moved to Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. Bill served there in the Allied Officers School, and in 1968 returned to LSU for the residency requirement. Then it was back to Air University until 1974 with retirement and Ph.D in hand.

After 25 years of service with the Air Force, he became an associate professor in economics at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Full professorship came five years later, then directorship of the Center for Economic Education and election to the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation as Piper Professor of 1986. The struggle with ALS had begun. He fought it with courage but lost the battle.

Even in the trying days of ALS he was always so very considerate. In 1949 his roommate Clay Buckingham had written of him in the Howitzer. "If consideration is a quality blest, then Willy's name leads all the rest." That, among so many other reasons, is why our three children and I will miss him the rest of our lives. He lived long enough to see our son Michael complete all but his dissertation in Latin American and U.S. history; our son Will receive a doctorate in musicology; and our daughter Tamara Anne earn a degree in special education. A long-time friend said, "He was always faithful to his God, his family, and his Country." Church attendance and involvement were second nature to him. He served as a deacon, elder, Sunday school teacher and in the choir.
Bill, Clay Buckingham and Ben Suttle were roommates at West Point for three years and remained in touch--always. We attended their weddings and Ben came to Bill's bedside when ALS had taken all but a smile and the twinkle in his eyes.

Clay said: "I remember Bill for his humor, his positive attitude and, above all, his considerate nature. Bill was a great roommate. He always did his job and went
out of his way to help me when I was behind. He was always conscious of the requirements and desires of others, never placing demands on his other roommates, but instead deferring to them in little ways that eased the tensions of cadet life. He was a true gentleman, with the innate desire to show consideration and respect for those around him. The only serious altercation we had in three years was when he got me a weekend drag with a "model" from New York City--it turned out she modeled shoes. It was a long weekend, and Bill and I joked about it for years to come."

From Ben: "Bill was one of those rare people that could see the good in others in all situations. This quality enabled him to get the maximum out of life. He made this world a better place for all of those privileged to know him. From his folksy sayings from North Georgia to tales of his adventures at Doc Silverman's math crash course in NYC preparing for re-entry to West Point, his humor and wit made it a joy to be with him. Through his love of life and respect for others he made life a memorable experience, especially for his room-mates. His seemingly casual approach to the Academy covered his deep love and devotion to West Point. Bill's place in the Long Gray Line is occupied by a true son of West Point."

Claire M. Rice