William Pattee Munger

Falmouth, ME – William Pattee Munger, 106, of St. George, ME, passed away at Falmouth House, Ocean View, on March 18, 2026. Bill was born on January 17, 1920 in Fanwood, NJ, to Dr. Ray Thomas Munger and Grace Pattee Munger of Plainfield, NJ. Dr. Munger served as chief of Surgery at Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield, NJ. Mrs. Munger, born Grace Elizabeth Pattee, was from Pelican Rapids, MN, with family roots in Werner, NH.

Bill graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 1938 and Princeton University in 1942. At Hotchkiss, his interest in mechanics and electronics grew; after discovering his illicit homemade radio the school started a club for him and his friends, and Bill got his first lab bench.

After graduation from Princeton, Bill worked at Wright Aeronautical as his friends joined the military. He helped analyze problems in military aircraft discovered by combat pilots and ground crews, and sometimes from wreckage; He and his team then designed solutions, a process that became known as “piston engineering” (Newark Sunday News Magazine article “Whiz Kids with Slipsticks” February 11, 1951). His attempt to enlist was denied, and he was told to continue his work.

Bill and Jane Marshall Munger married in Plainfield on December 7, 1946. They began their life and family together in Morris Plains at Craftsman Farms, then moved to Morristown and Mendham, NJ, where they raised their four children: Grace, Dorothy, Ray Thomas, and Burke.

Bill started work for Reaction Motors, Inc. in Mahwah, NJ, in 1946. As chief project engineer of rocket pump development, he is credited with the design of the first US all-turbine pump. This turbo pump had a 6000-pound thrust and was developed to power the X-1 supersonic test aircraft. Later, four of these pumps powered the early versions of the X-15, a precursor of the space shuttle. His vision at the time was rocket transportation, where passengers would travel at “2,000 to 3,000 miles an hour 70 to 100 miles above the earth.”

Bill then joined American Brake Shoe Inc (later Abex Corporation), working on bar code train tracking and developing engineering firms aligned with the company’s business model. After retiring from Abex, he spent two years part-time at Franklin Cole, Inc., an investment firm in New York City.

After full retirement and following the death of his wife Jane, Bill and Patricia Locke were married in 1990. Together they purchased land on Rackliff Island, Spruce Head, ME, where they kept his 31 ft. Cape Dory Kestrel on a mooring in front of their house. Bill became an accomplished woodworker crafting furniture for his home and built his 15-foot cedar strip dory Lark in his basement. As a boy, Bill learned fly fishing from his father and fished rivers across the USA and Canada, in the Caribbean, Argentina, Iceland and Scotland. Also a skilled sailor, Bill cruised the Eastern seaboard from the Canadian Maritimes to Grenada, in the Hebrides Islands of Scotland and along the western Norwegian coastline.

As he aged through his 80’s and 90’s and on to age 104, Bill loved nothing more than to sit with Patsy on their front deck to watch boats pass by in the Muscle Ridge Channel, listen to the foghorn on Whitehead Island and enjoy the changing tides in Seal Harbor. Until age 93 he continued to explore the islands of Maine in his Cape Dory.

Bill Munger is survived by Patsy, his wife of 35 years, and his four children, Grace, Dorothy, Tom and Burke. He is also survived by eight grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and three stepchildren, Alison, Katharine and Evelyn. Bill’s brother, Ray Thomas Munger, died tragically at 17 years of age, in Plainfield, N.J.

A Celebration in Bill’s memory will be held at 1:30pm on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at the Rockport Boat Club, 4 Main St, Rockport, ME.