William L. Haelle, Jr., 79, of Earleville, MD, passed away at his home November 9, 2012.

Born on July 26, 1933, Bill (Captain) was the son of the late William L. Haelle, Sr. and Edith Layton Haelle. He retired from Smith Kline and French where he worked as a printer. Bill was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and was an active member of VFW Post 3460 in Media, PA as well as Post 7687 in Chesapeake City, MD and served as Commander at both Posts. He was also a member of the Chesapeake City Lions Club, and the Elks and Moose Lodges in Elkton. He enjoyed spending time on the water boating, fishing and crabbing and also enjoyed golf.

He is survived by two sons, William L. Haelle, III of Sharon Hill, PA and Thomas G. Haelle of Quakertown, PA; 5 grandchildren, Mark, Christopher, Kevin, Robin and TJ, and 7 great grandchildren.

A service honoring his life will be held at R.T. Foard Funeral Home, P.A., 318 George St., Chesapeake City, MD on Wednesday November 14, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. with a visitation beginning at 10 am. A graveside service will be held at Arlington Cemetery, 2900 State Road, Drexel Hill, PA 19026 on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Northern Chesapeake Hospice Foundation c/o the funeral home. To end condolences visit www.rtfoard.com.

Eulogy used during the memorial service:

Poppop “Captain,” as he would call himself, was definitely a one of a kind man. Calling him an exceptional father, grandfather, and a friend would be an understatement. He was a man who showed so much pride in his family, someone who could tell you stories for days, a gentleman who would help out anyone in need, a friend with a great sense of humor, but most importantly, an inspirational leader who would never give up.

He was an extremely outgoing man who made friends wherever he would end up. Any place around the world that he would go, he would know at least one person. He was a man that would torture you in good humor. If you took the brunt of his jokes then that meant he liked you.

He enjoyed fishing, boating, dancing, playing instruments, sculpting figures, building model planes, socializing in all of his VFW, Moose, and Lion’s clubs, eating crabs and of course enjoying a fresh cocktail at any point of the day. He always said, “You haven’t lived until you have eaten crabs with a cold beer.” That phrase definitely became words to live by.

Six year ago, he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and was only given a few months to live. Even though this was overwhelming for our family, he would always have his sense of humor, which would drive my father and Uncle Tom crazy, but definitely made the nurses laugh. He was definitely a stubborn man but knew exactly what he wanted, which probably added those extra years onto his life. When it came time to taking his medicine, he would take only the pills he deemed were worthy and disposed of the rest. He was also known for signing himself out of any institution just to be in the comfort of his own home.

No matter how much he might have been suffering, he would never showed it. If you did not know him, then you would have never known he was sick because he went about his day like any other day, living each day with prosperity. His sickness only became evident recently. He was always the “Thanksgiving Man,” however, this year he told us that he could not pick out his turkey from the farm and that he was not going to be able to make his infamous pies, which was unheard of.

I went to visit him a few days ago and he physically appeared exhausted, but sat with me and told me stories about his life throughout my whole duration, making me laugh like any other visit. When I went to say goodbye to him, he said, “Take care of your father for me.” I think he could sense that his time here was complete.

November 9th, our core family member had passed and it was the most devastating event that our family has ever experience. Even with as much grieving that we all did, we all know that he is no longer suffering. He is a one of a kind man that will truly be missed and I speak for my family in saying how extremely blessed we are to have had him in our lives.