William R. Kievit

William “Bill” R. Kievit, age 95, of Wayne passed peacefully in the comfort of his home on Sunday, January 3, 2021.

He was born in Clifton to Crine and Goldie Kievit on the kitchen table where mom delivered all three of her children by Midwife. William attended Clifton High School and soon transferred to Montclair Academy in Montclair where he graduated with the Class of 1943.

About two months after graduating High School Bill enlisted in the US Coast Guard on July 23, 1943.  He served during World War II as an Apprentice Seaman and Aerographer’s Mate Third Class and held certifications as an Aerographer and Radiosonde. He was honorably discharged on December 1, 1945.

After his discharge from the service he enrolled in Lafayette College in Easton, PA under the GI Bill and graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Engineering with the Class of 1949. During his years of working he was employed at Okonite Cable in Paterson as a Sales Engineer and worked in a similar capacity for NLS (Non-Linear Systems) in Nutley.  With a partner Bill founded KLS (Kievit Landy Systems) originally located in Fairfield and later moving to the Singac section of Little Falls. Their company sold all kinds of high end testing and recording equipment.  Some of their equipment recorded 911 calls for police departments and an example of one of their testing machines is one that determined the consistency of crunch in crackers for Nabisco. William officially retired in 1995.

Bill met the love of his life on a blind date that was set up by his brother Roy at the Upper Montclair Country Club. Bill called Joan “Doris” all night until she emphatically said “the name is Joan.”  Just two weeks later and after dates to Rutts Hut in Clifton and the Meadowbrook Dance Club, Cedar Grove, Bill proposed marriage.  Joan was an only child and when Bill asked her father for permission to marry his daughter he was met with “don’t you think it’s a little early?”  The other bad news Bill had for Joan’s parents was just after they married they were moving away to Richmond, Virginia.  As you can imagine her parents were not thrilled and many predicted the marriage would fail.  Well Bill and Joan proved everyone wrong and had a loving and devoted marriage of sixty-eight years.  They married on the lawn at North Jersey Country Club in Wayne on September 6, 1952 and honeymooned in New Haven, Connecticut and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Through all those years together they may have had disagreements but really never had a fight and never raised their voices to each other.  Their marriage has been an amazing role model for their children and grandchildren.

Bill will be remembered for his kind, patient, and wise ways.  He was a wonderful person who was an excellent communicator, story teller, and always thought through his words.  Most of all he took great pleasure in having his family together and took great pride in all their accomplishments. Bill was an avid golfer playing mostly at the Passaic County Golf Club now known as Preakness Valley Golf Club in Wayne. He played the game up through his ninety-fourth year and had two holes-in-one. Bill taught his granddaughter the game and she now plays at the collegiate level on the Quinnipiac University Golf Team in Hamden, Connecticut.

Bill was the loving husband of sixty-eight years to Joan Kievit; devoted father of Dave (Liz) Kievit of Glen Mills, PA, Bruce (Paulette) Kievit of Coatesville, PA, and Bob (Laura) Kievit of Cedar Grove; he was the cherished grandfather of Will (Alyssa) Kievit, Michael Kievit, Tim Kievit, Brian Kievit, Jeanette (Ryan) Cacesse, Christine Kievit, and Jennifer Kievit; he was the loved brother of the late Roy Kievit and Robert Kievit.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Humane Society would be greatly appreciated.