William Allen Till Jr. Obituary

Published 3:05 pm Monday, June 16, 2025

William Allen Till, Jr. (Bill), 72 of Somerville passed away on June 9 at Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville. He was born January 4, 1953 in Greenville, the son of Dr. William Allen Till, Sr (DVM) and Whitman Nuckolls Till. He was a student at Luverne High School and graduated from Crenshew Christian Academy. He graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science in Wood Technology in 1975 and was commissioned into the Air Force at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana where he served from 1975 to 1979. Here he served as a Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander and as a Missile Procedures Trainer Operator. After completion of his active duty with the Air Force, he returned to Auburn University and received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. After college, he began work at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), where he worked for 26 years as a mechanical engineer.
Accomplishments during his 26-year career resulted in some very long-lasting impacts. The projects he supported included the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), launched in 1990 and still in service today; HST Maintenance Missions, as originally designed by MSFC; Shuttle Challenger Accident Investigation; the International Space Station, launched in 1998 and still in service; Chandra X-Ray Observatory, launched in 1999 and still in service; Gravity Probe-B Satellite, launched in 2004, with data analysis completed in 2011; New Horizons Space Probe, launched in 2006 and still in service; Robotic Lunar Exploration Project, conceptual studies; Ares-I Upper Stage, launch vehicle thermal design and Contract Management/Technical Representative for the development of Thermal Desktop ®, an industry leading software tool for the thermal analysis and design of spacecraft and launch vehicles. This software and many other analytical methods he developed in part or in whole are still used by engineers at NASA and will be for generations to come. He received multiple awards for his years of service and is often still mentioned at his old workplace. His co-workers remember him for sound engineering, an analytical mind, providing accurate results, holding immense knowledge, being ever helpful & often comical and, above all, being a gracious friend. He worked until 2009, with no intention of stopping. But, after a trip in June of 2009 to Montana with his wife Margaret and son William, he decided to retire and devote his remaining days to his family and his hobbies.
He turned countless trees into fine lumber with his one-man lumber mill and used that wood to make everything from furniture to the support beams for his shop. But, for every tree he turned into lumber, he planted many more, and he usually had a story about each tree he planted. He delved deeply into genealogy, tracing generations of his and his wife’s family back to Europe. He will be remembered for many things, including his delight in telling stories as varied as his passions. Whether driving in his beloved Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, walking in the woods (and stopping to admire the beautiful trees), collecting plants, to tinkering on anything mechanical, Bill spent his retirement enjoying the little things that brought him joy. And his greatest joy of all was spending time with his wife Margaret and son William.
Bill is survived by his wife Margaret Inez Watts Till and son William Allen Till, III, sister Margaret L. Till (James F. Matta) of Lenoir City, Tennessee and nephew James T. Matta (Tina) of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Many other beloved family members and friends are also left behind.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Friends of Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge or just be sure to give your loved ones a hug and take a little time to commune with nature. You can mail your donation to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge Association, 3121 Visitors Center Road, Decatur 35603 or visit www.friendsofwheelernwr.org to make an online donation.
Memorial arrangements are set for Tuesday, June 24, with 9:30 a.m. visitation and 10 a.m. and a service at Berryhill Funeral Home and Crematory, 2305 Memorial Parkway NW, Huntsville and June 26 Thursday, 1 p.m. Glenwood Methodist Church, 235 West Dyer St, Glenwood.