William R. “Bill” Brown, age 65, of Bainbridge Island died Aug. 20 at his home on Yeomalt Point, after a three-month battle with cancer.

He was born July 26, 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pa., to Fred and Clare Brown.

He grew up in Pittsburgh where he attended St. Basil High School, becoming very active in speech and debate. He won a number of awards as a member of both the Catholic and National Forensic Leagues.

In 1959 he earned a BA from his hometown Duquesne University. While at the university, he joined the Air Force ROTC and rose to become Cadet Commander of the students his senior year. In 1976, he completed a master’s degree at the University of Dallas.

He served in the Air Force Strategic Air Command, flying B-47 bombers and reaching the rank of captain. In 1964 he left the Air Force for a career with Delta Air Lines.

On July 24, 1976, he married Charlotte Wawrzynski, an American Airlines flight attendant from Chicago, Ill.

During his 33-year career with Delta, he flew most of the airline’s planes: C-46, DC 6/7, DC-9, DC-8, B-727, B-767/757 and L-1011. After serving as a flight-training instructor in Atlanta in his early years with the airline, he settled in Dallas, Tex., where he lived until his retirement in 1997.

He began volunteering in the early 1970s for numerous jobs with the pilots union, the Air Line Pilots Association.

After becoming vhairman of the union’s flight safety efforts, he turned his attention to the political arena. He was chosen to represent the Dallas pilots for a number of years before being elected in the early 1980s to be chairman of the Delta pilots union. He was asked to return to that position two more times over the next 15 years.

In 1996-1997, he served as the first pilot member of Delta Air Line’s Board of Directors.

Having fallen in love with Bainbridge in the early 1990s, the couple built a dream home and moved to the island in 1997.

He rapidly become involved in the community and was asked to join boards and committees at his church, St. Cecilia, Bainbridge Performing Arts and Kiwanis. He and Charlotte were also active in Bainbridge Welcome Wagon.

He was also known as an uncompromising Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

He is survived by his wife Charlotte of Bainbridge; daughter daughter Nicole (Troy) Niehaus and three grandchildren, Natalya, Jack William and Priya of Kingston; brothers (Fr.) Richard T. Brown, Robert V. Brown of Woodridge, Ill., and David J. Brown of Tucson, Ar.; sister Kathleen R. McCusker of Pekin, Ill.

Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 23, followed by a rosary service at 7:30 p.m., both at the Stone Chapel in Poulsbo.

A mass will be held at noon on Aug. 24 at St. Cecilia Catholic Church. Pilots are requested to wear uniforms to the mass.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to Bainbridge Island Kiwanis Foundation, P.O. Box 10602, Bainbridge Is., Wa., 98110, or Kitsap Humane Society, 9167 Dickey Road, Silverdale, WA, 98383.