Wiliam W. Gerecke

July 2, 1924 - November 29, 2017

William W. Gerecke, a long-time resident of Greenwich CT and a native San Franciscan, passed away on November 29. Born July 2, 1924, he was the only child of Charles Herman and Cheerful Gerecke, and his paternal grandfather, Herman Gerecke, was the first Mayor of Norfolk, Nebraska. Bill attended San Francisco Polytechnic High School and then San Francisco City College before the war. After serving with the Army Air Force in Italy, he transferred to Stanford University where he received his BA in 1947 and then his MBA in 1949.

After graduation Bill was hired by Haskins & Sells, a big 8 accounting firm, as a certified public accountant and one of its first management consultants. He married Jane Hammond, who worked for rival firm Price Waterhouse, in April 1953. After the birth of two children, Jeffrey and Carolyn, Bill was transferred to the Los Angeles office of H&S where he rose to become the Partner-in Charge of the Los Angeles Office’s Management Advisory Services Group, before being transferred to the Executive Office in New York in 1979. Living in Greenwich CT for the rest of his life, he described himself as “bicoastal,” with a home in Walnut Creek, a membership at the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles, and a subscription to the Hollywood Bowl. He remained an active member of the Second Congregational Church in Greenwich CT and the Community Church of Mill Valley, CA.

He retired from the firm now known as Deloitte after 38 years of service. Bill was then appointed Chief Financial Officer of Noise Cancellation Technologies. Bill also found time to provide his accounting knowledge to organizations in dire need of someone with good sense and a grasp of numbers. He cultivated friendships from every moment of his busy life, and enjoyed bridge, animals, See’s chocolate and travel. He doted on his two granddaughters.

He was pre-deceased by his wife Jane and his daughter Carolyn, and is survived by his son Jeff, his daughter-in-law Sarah, his two grandchildren, Renata and Claudia, niece Deborah Hammond Wells, and two nephews, John and David Hammond. Memorial Service will be held on Dec. 21 at 2 pm at the Second Congregational Church, Greenwich. A second service will be held early in 2018 at the Community Church in Mill Valley, California.