William C. Jeas, 85, of Northborough, died Thursday, May 2nd in UMASS Memorial Medical Center. He was the husband of Irene M. (Merkle) Jeas, originally of Marquette, MI. He leaves a son, Dean Jeas and his wife, Christine of NH; a granddaughter, Katherine (Jeas) Sullivan and her husband, Dan; a great-granddaughter, Natalie Sullivan all of Somersworth, NH; a brother, George Jeas of Jamaica Plain; four nieces and two nephews. He was predeceased by his younger brother, James Jeas who died in 1997.
He was born in Worcester, the son of Costas V. and Areti Jeas. Williams' football achievements at the former Classical High School afforded him the opportunity to attend the United States Naval Academy in 1957. Upon graduating in 1961, William was commissioned an officer in the United States Air Force and began his 25-year career with his assignment to Lincoln Nebraska as a Launch Officer in the subsurface missile silos of the Atlas -F missile. The world’s 1st and only operational intercontinental ballistic missile. In October of 1962, during a 13-day confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union known as the Cuban Missile Crisis Jeas and his crew remained in silos, waiting for the orders to “Launch”. An order that never came.
William went on to have a remarkable 25-year career with the Air Force, playing an important role in the development and implementation of many cutting-edge systems vital to protecting the Nation, not the least of which was the AWACS system, and the development, construction and implementation, of a ground-based system for effectively tracking deep-space satellites. He went on to become the Director of the program, named “GEODSS”, a system that used technology the Soviets did not have, and did not develop for many years to come. Retiring in 1985 to Northborough with his wife, Irene where they enjoyed many years of the relaxed pace of retirees…
His funeral will be held on Tuesday, May 14th at 10:30 a.m. in St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 102 Russell Street, Worcester. Burial with military honors will follow in the Massachusetts Veterans' Memorial Cemetery in Winchendon. A visitation will be held from 9:30 until the time of the service in St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral. O'CONNNOR BROTHERS FUNERAL HOME is assisting the family with arrangements. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to the Parkinson's Foundation, 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800, Miami, FL 33131