Notes for: William Warden Bodine, Jr.
From: http://www.forever-care.com/:
William W. Bodine, Jr., one of Philadelphia's leading civic figures, was chairman of the Board of the World Affairs Council, an organization that he helped shape into a World Forum. He was also an officer of 25 other major organizations.
As a former president of Jefferson Medical College, he was responsible for 10 new buildings, funds to equip them, faculty to staff them and endowments to keep everything going. For him, civic work was an obligation, and he was honored by many organizations. The honor of which he was most proud was the sculpted, "Fountain Of Otters At Play," decidated at Jefferson Medical College.
During World War II, he was commander of a tank-destroyer unit and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Lt. Colonel Bodine was wounded and captured by the Germans. However, he managed to escape and made it back across the Allied Lines. For his exploits he received a Purple Heart, Legion of Merit and the Croix de Guerre with Palm.
The following is from The New York Times edition of Aug 12, 1983:
William W. Bodine Jr., an educator and chairman of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, died of cancer yesterday at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He was 65 years old and lived in Villanova, Pa.
Mr. Bodine was associated with the World Affairs Council for more than 25 years. At the time of his death he was also board chairman of the University City Science Center in Philadelphia.
Active in medical education for nearly two decades, Mr. Bodine was president of the Jefferson Medical College and Medical Center from 1959 to 1966. The college then became Thomas Jefferson University and Mr. Bodine served as chairman of the university from 1970 until 1977.
Mr. Bodine was educated at St. Paul's School in Concord, N. H., and Harvard University. He was associated for several years with the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company before resigning as financial secretary in 1959. From 1967 to 1969, he was president of Arthur C. Kaufmann & Associates, financial management consultants in Philadelphia.
From Ronny Bodine:
William Bodine served during World War II as a lieutenant colunel. He was commander of a tank destroyer unit, fought at the Battle of the Bulge, was wounded, captured by the Germans and escaped to Allied lines. He was decorated with the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Croix de Guerre with Palm (France). President, Jefferson Medical College and Jefferson Medical Center, 1959-1966; President, Arthur C. Kaufmann & Associates, Inc., management consultants, Philadelphia, 1967-1969; President, World Affairs Council, Philadelphia, 1969-1983 and its chairman, 1983; Chairman of the Board, Thomas Jefferson University, 1970-1979. Louise Bodine helped establish the Pennywise Thrift Store, which benefits Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and supported the Bodine High School for International Affairs, a magnet school named for her husband. William and Louise Bodine ere buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Obituary, the Philadelphia Inquirer of 12 Aug 1983.
William W. Bodine Jr., 65, one of Philadelphia's leading civic figures, died yesterday of cancer at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He lived at Cambria in Villanova. He was a sportsman and war hero in his youth and went on to make his mark in the political, business and civic worlds. In the process, he became a man who knew the world and its leaders. He met them on a first-name basis. During his life, he was active in numerous organizations. He was chairman of the board of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, an organization that he helped shape into a world forum, and he was an officer of 25 other major organizations. He had retired from his position as the first full-time president of the World Affairs Council in June, shortly before his illness was diagnosed. He had planned to slow his pace a bit; he seemed pleased at the prospect of retirement. His friends and associates seized upon his impending retirement as an opportunity to thank him for 13 years of devoted work on behalf of the organization. They arranged a testimonial dinner. The affair, complete with toasts and speeches, was held on May 24. When the World Affairs Council party ended, Mr. Bodine mentioned that he had had some last minute qualms about attending, and said that he found himself thinking of his aged mother, Angela Forney Bodine. Associates then told him that his 94-year-old mother had died in Bryn Mawr, just as his party had begun.
IN CONSTANT PAIN
It was about that time, although it was not clear to his friends, that he found himself in constant pain. No cause could be found until mid-July, when he returned to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Jefferson was his hospital and his school. Former president of Jefferson Medical College, former chairman of the board and a life member of the board of Jefferson University, he was responsible for 10 new buildings, funds to equip them, faculty to staff them and endowments to keep everything going.
A CAT scan found his problem. That's when he was told he had cancer.
When his friends and associates finally learned that he was dying, they quietly agreed among themselves that at least they had had a chance to tell him that they "really appreciated what he had done," as one friend said.
Above all, several agreed yesterday, he was a "doer."
"He didn't lend his name to organizations," one commented. "He worked for them."
At the time of his death, he was on the board or served as president or chairman of two dozen organizations.
In no case, said his associates, did he seek the posts for the sake of his ego. Instead, they said, he joined to get things done. And he did get things done. His latter days with the World Affairs Council offered an example.
A SUPERB ORGANIZER
He succeeded in winning approval for a school of international affairs, a school where students could be trained for diplomatic work.
Working with the Philadelphia public school system, the World Affairs Council mapped a curriculum for the first such school in the world. The old Jefferson Elementary School at Fourth and George Streets was refurbished as a magnet school and opened its doors two years ago.
Its opening meant far more to him than the calls from Air Force One and the chance to chat with Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy or Willy Brandt, the former chancellor of West Germany.
And the scholarships that took four students abroad this year, plus the opportunity for students to work as interns in diplomatic roles starting next year, added to his pleasure.
He was a superb organizer, a man who could find a time and a place for everything. He was as enthusiastic about civic work as most men are about their sports and hobbies, friends said.
For him, civic work was an obligation, friends said.
He was raised at Oakwell, the family estate in Villanova, the son of William Warden Bodine, a lawyer who held major interests in banking, insurance, utilities and concrete, served as president of a number of civic and charitable organizations, and gave time and money to the Republican Party.
As his father had 23 years earlier, he enlisted in the 108th Field Artillery after study at Harvard and, like his father, he was soon sent overseas to fight in Europe.
As the commander of a tank-destroyer unit, the 6-foot, 200-pound former polo player took his men on a sweep through the Low Countries until they reached the Malmedy sector near the Belgium-Luxembourg line. Near the middle of a 26-mile-long line held by the 28th Division, he and his men battered the Siegfried Line with sustained fire.
But the continuing bombardment was broken by attacking Panzer units followed by German infantry; the Battle of the Bulge was on. Lt. Col. Bodine and many of the men who he led were taken prisoner near St. Vith. Some men were lost in the massacre in the Malmedy Woods. Others, including the colonel, were loaded onto boxcars, bound for prisoner-of-war camps.
Although he was wounded in the process, Mr. Bodine escaped, made it back across the Allied lines and was hospitalized for five months. He was then assigned to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's staff and awarded the Purple Heart, Legion of Merit and the Croix de Guerre with Palm.
When he returned from the war, he was a dedicated Eisenhower Republican. He worked for his old chief and for other moderates, notably Nelson Rockefeller, in the years that followed.
He remained a Republican throughout his life, although he found no trouble in supporting Democrats - most recently William Green and W. Wilson Goode.
He served on and headed the finance committee for the Pennsylvania Republican organization, and, from time to time, served on the finance committee of the national GOP.
Rather than engaging in partisan clashes, he brought people together and he refused to let politics intrude on organizational work.
His military experience stood him in good stead in his organization work, associates said. They described him as "tough, driving, dedicated."
He was goal-oriented and kept moving. "He didn't look back," a World Affairs Council aide said. "He would make a decision and move on."
He found ways around problems. One was a stutter that troubled him throughout his life. To meet it, he planned and rehearsed his words until they sounded spontaneous, without fluster.
It was all part of putting together major programs and funding them. The University Science Center, one of the largest such projects ever undertaken, offered another example.
As chairman of the board of directors since 1981, he had to sell the project to corporate and educational leaders. He succeeded.
As a result, he believed that he and others in his "comfortable" position should be responsible for those less fortunate, and that they were duty-bound to give their support to civic responsibilities.
His board memberships included the United Fund and then the United Way; the Elwyn Institute; the Woods Schools; Wheels for Welfare; the United Nations Association; Temple University; the Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute; the Citizens Crime Commission; the Urban Coalition; the Committee of Seventy; and the Greater Philadelphia Partnership.
In the business world, he served as president of Arthur C. Kaufman & Associates, a management consulting firm, from 1967 to 1969. Earlier, he had served as financial secretary to Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. and as assistant treasurer of the Tradesman's National Bank & Trust Co., now Provident National Bank.
He also had worked for a time as a registered representative for Montgomery Scott & Co.
Mr. Bodine was also involved in the work of the Friends of Winterthur Museum, the Brandywine Museum, the Newcomen Society, Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the American Academy of Political & Social Science.
At the time of his death, he was a member of the board of WHYY-TV, Channel 12, and on the board of organizations such as the Old Philadelphia Development Corp., the Elwyn Institute, the YMCA Foundation and the Greater Philadelphia Economic Development Coalition.
He had served on the boards of the Drama Guild; the National Conference for Christians and Jews; the Free Library of Philadelphia; Children's Heart Hospital; the Art Alliance; and Bryn Mawr Hospital.
Mr. Bodine was honored by many organizations, but the honor of which he was most proud was the sculpted fountain of otters at play dedicated at Jefferson.
Surviving are his wife, the former Louise Richardson Dilworth Bodine; two daughters, Anne B. Titcomb and Barbara W.; two sons, William W. 3rd and Lawrence D.; brothers, Samuel T. and James F.; a sister, Jane Sniffen; and two grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9 at the Church of the Redeemer, Pennswood and Old Gulph Roads, Bryn Mawr.
Obituary, the Philadelphia "Inquirer" of 7 April 2005.
Louise Dilworth Bodine, 83, formerly of Villanova, a supporter of many Philadelphia cultural institutions, died of a brain tumor March 27 at Beaumont, a retirement community in Bryn Mawr. Mrs. Bodine was a former cochair of the Academy of Music Ball and the Philadelphia Zoobilee. She served on the Women's Committee of the Academy of Natural Sciences and for several years cochaired Super Sunday, a festival sponsored by museums on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. She helped establish the Pennywise Thrift Store, which benefits Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Her husband, William Bodine Jr., who died in 1983, had been president of Jefferson and had been a founder and chairman of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Mrs. Bodine supported the Bodine High School for International Affairs, a magnet school named for her husband. The Bodines met in Paris at the end of World War II. He was serving on Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff, and she was with the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA. They were married in 1946. Mrs. Bodine, who was born in Pittsburgh, graduated from Pine Manor College in Massachusetts. She enjoyed adventurous travel and was considering plans for a trip to Southeast Asia with her grandchildren before her illness. Mrs. Bodine is survived by sons William and Lawrence; daughters Anne Cresci and Barbara; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be private.