On April 4th 2016 William Hamilton Roehl, died peacefully in his sleep while surrounded by close family members. Known to his friends as Bill, he was born in 1928 in Clinton, Iowa and attended Taft High School in Chicago. He received his Bachelor degree from the University of Kansas in 1950 and then served as a company commander in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War. After the war, Bill received a Master’s degree from Princeton University in 1955 and then joined The Architects Collaborative in Rome (Walter Gropius and Robert S. McMillan Partners in Charge). In 1962 he moved to New York City where he taught Architecture at the City College of New York and joined the firm Whittlesey and Conklin. In 1970 Bill established his own firm, William Hamilton Roehl, Architect, in New York City and in 1984 he opened an office in Noank, Connecticut. In 1994 he was made Professor Emeritus by the City College of New York, and he continued to practice architecture in Noank up until the time of his death.
During Bill’s sixty years as an architect and designer, he was involved with many large-scale projects including the city plans for Islamabad (Pakistan), Riverton (New York), Reston (Virginia) and Twin Rivers (New Jersey) and the master plans for the University of Baghdad (Iraq) and Bayero University (Nigeria). In New York City, Bill collaborated on the Master Plan for the New York City Civic Center as well as award-winning urban renewal projects for Coney Island and Yonkers. Over the last 30 years, he worked primarily in Connecticut designing more than ninety buildings and projects including thirty private residences. Of significance among these projects is the Stonington Country Club and the Holly Green commercial development in North Stonington.
Bill was an enthusiastic artist, gardener and yachtsman, a member of the Ram Island Yacht Club and the First Wednesday Club. He will be greatly missed by the community of Noank which he was proud to be a part of for 46 years. He is survived by his wife Jennifer Roehl of Noank, and two sons, Robb Roehl of San Francisco and Henry Roehl of Sheffield, England. Private funeral services have been held and a celebration of his life will be held later this year.
To share a message of condolence or remembrance with his family, please click the link below.