William "Bill" Harold Needham
March 6, 1945 ~ August 2, 2023
William “Bill” Harold Needham, 78, of Indianapolis passed away August 2, 2023. He was born in Lafayette, Indiana on March 6, 1945 to William Harold and Evelyn Behny Needham.
Bill was a graduate of Lafayette Jefferson High School and Purdue University. He retired from RCA / Thompson Consumer Electronics.
Bill enjoyed shooting and target practice; he was a lifetime member of the NRA. He enjoyed college basketball and NFL football. His main passion in life was his family. William was the type of person who would help anyone in need.
Bill is survived by his children Jerry (Andie) Needham, Dawn Needham, grandchildren Grant Needham, Gavin Geisking, Gema Geisking, his ex wives’ and friends Kay Needham and Linda Ahlers.
Visitation for Bill will be Saturday, August 12 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at O’Riley Branson Funeral Service and Crematory, 6107 S. East Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46227. A Celebration of Life will follow at 3:00 PM.
Please visit www.OrileyBranson.com to share a favorite memory or to sign the online guest registry.
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Actually met him during a snowstorm. I was out with our dog and getting firewood as we were having to use a fireplace due to electrical being knocked out. I gave him some of my wood supply as he didn’t have much. We chatted for a while then decided we knew better than to be standing in freezing weather. We became great friends. Helped each other with yard work and other things. After his last divorce and my first divorce he offered me a place to stay. Took him up on it and stayed until I met my second wife. Always remained friends. Occasionally went shooting together. On his request I helped him teach his daughter how to shoot. Fun experience for her and both Bill and I.
I worked with Bill Needham for many years at RCA-Thomson Consumer Electronics. If time permitted, we would often go out for lunch and forget about business for an hour. The typical topics of our lunch conversation were shooting and fast cars. Bill liked rifle shooting at long distance targets and I liked shotgun shooting at clay pigeons (trap and skeet). As you may know, these are very different shooting sports; however, we both really enjoyed talking about our guns, the smell of gun powder, and how many targets we hit or missed since the previous weekend. If guns didn’t take up the entire lunch time, we would switch the subject to fast cars, including various cars we owned at one time or another, what we liked and didn’t like about each of them, which one was the fastest, and which one was the biggest pain to maintain. Also, which new car would we buy today if we won the lottery! You get the idea–all a bunch of guy stuff.
I got to know Bill well enough to confidently say that he was a diligent, conscientious, hardworking man at RCA-Thomson. He always wanted to do the best job he could for the company.
Bill – I will always miss our lunches together. We had good times.
God Speed!
Steve Golliher
Sarasota Florida
Met Bill when we were both working in Purchased Product, he was in Sourcing, I was in Engineering, more than 30 years ago. I remember most how we would offer each other support on our frequent trips to Asia, after a long day a cold beer together was a great reward. When I retired and settled in South East Asia we would call each other every month or so, something I looked forward to with pleasure. Bill was the perfect friend and I will miss him. Goodbye buddy.
John Benford
Udon Thani
Thailand
I met Bill when we were both in grade school, Oakland Grade School in Lafayette In. He lived on 30th Street and I was several blocks away on 31st Street, his Dad worked a Alcoa which was walking distance from their home. Bill was one of the smarter kids in our grade and I remember he was fascinated by Dinosaurs. As Bill got out of collage he married a girl, Linda Brown, that was a friend of the girl I married. we were all Alumni of Lafayette Jefferson High School. Bill and I were Class of 1963. After College Bill worked for Bill Dyer, owner of Sky Ride Petroleum which had several filling stations in our area. During this time we had a lot of good times together. Bill moved on to RCA in Indianapolis and we stayed in touch thru the years. Bill always had good things to say about people, I know he “bled NRA” and Jerry was the light of his life! I thought about Bill often in my life time and I will have his memory for the years I have left. I wanted to come to his service but at 78 some days you can’t do what you want. So to Bill’s Family I say “so sorry for your loss” Bill was one of a kind.
Even though we were always far apart, you were always on my mind and in my heart. That will never change. I miss you and I love you, Daddy.
I enjoyed working for Bill in Finished Goods purchasing at RCA-Thomson Consumer Electronics, in Indianapolis.
He, Charlie Quinn and I were like running our own separate company. I wish I could have keep in contact with Bill through the years, he was a good guy. To Bill’s family …. sorry for your loss
I worked with Bill at Unger’s drug store in Lafayette when we were both teenagers. He was a great guy and always supportive. Condolences to his family.