William Pfeffer; owned S.J. telephone-services company
William T. Pfeffer, 65, of Somerdale, who owned and operated Chatham Communications, a telephone services firm in Bellmawr, from 1981 until it was sold in 2007, died of Parkinson's disease Thursday, Oct. 16, at his home.
William T. Pfeffer, 65, of Somerdale, who owned and operated Chatham Communications, a telephone services firm in Bellmawr, from 1981 until it was sold in 2007, died of Parkinson's disease Thursday, Oct. 16, at his home.
Born in Camden, Mr. Pfeffer graduated from Collingswood High School in 1967, where he won medals while on the wrestling team, daughter Jennifer Campbell said.
After serving in the Navy, Mr. Pfeffer was a lineman for New Jersey Bell Telephone Co. in the 1970s, she said.
"He would go out to run the wires. That's where he got his communications skills," she said.
After naming Chatham for the street on which his family lived, Mr. Pfeffer focused his business on installing phone systems inside small businesses, such as doctor's offices or car dealerships, mostly in South Jersey.
Mr. Pfeffer and his wife, Maureen, shared the effort, their daughter said: "He was the president, but she helped run the business, the financial things."
And, his daughter said, "he always loved to fly," so much so that he was in the skies with an instructor "before he had a driver's license."
After he earned his pilot's license, he would rent small aircraft but not venture beyond the region. "It was more of a hobby," she said, rather than a way to get anywhere.
Besides his daughter, Mr. Pfeffer is survived by his mother, Sara; son Patrick; two brothers; two sisters; and five grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife of 43 years.
Viewings were set from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, at the Foster-Warne Funeral Home, 250 White Horse Pike, Audubon, before an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass at St. Rose of Lima Church, Fourth Avenue and Kings Highway, Haddon Heights, with interment in New St. Mary's Cemetery, Bellmawr.
Donations may be sent to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, Grand Central Station, Box 4777, New York, N.Y. 10163-4777, or www.michaeljfox.org.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.fosterwarnefuneralhome.com.