William L. (Bill) Boggess Sr. of Katama died Saturday, July 4 at the Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. He was 81.

He was born on June 8, 1928 in Morristown, N.J., the son of the Rev. Elwood C. and Elsie (Nunneker) Boggess. He grew up in Mendham and West Orange, N.J. He attended Mendham Borough School and was a 1946 graduate of the Kent School in Kent, Conn. He also attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

In 1950 Mr. Boggess was honorably discharged from the New Jersey Army National Guard, after three years of service as an aircraft technician, maintaining and repairing light observation aircraft. He was also trained as an armor crewman on Sherman tanks. His stint in the National Guard was the beginning of a lifelong love of all types of aircraft, but in particular Stearman biplanes ,which were his favorite.

He was a devout, lifelong communicant of the Episcopal Church, having begun as an acolyte at the age of four. His father, the Rev. Elwood Boggess, was an ordained Episcopal priest for 67 years. At the time of his death, Mr. Boggess was a communicant and active member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown.

His work life began at an early age and ran the gamut of building railroad track for the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, and as a teenager operating the switch tower in the Hoboken, N.J. rail yard, culminating in a professional driving career spanning 29 years with Greyhound Lines, and finally retiring in 1994 from Vermont Transit lines, logging over two million accident-free miles.

He lived in Ohio, New Jersey, Vermont and New Hampshire, retiring to the Vineyard in 1996 with his wife Betsy. He married Betsy Rudolph of Edgartown on June 22, 1963.

Mr. Boggess had many hobbies, but especially enjoyed reading, woodworking, mechanical projects, wood carving, the sea, aircraft and wooden boats.

He was also a member of the AUSA, a patron of the NRA and a lifelong member of the Fraternal Order of the Elks. He was an avid football fan, and especially fond of Dartmouth College football. When he moved to the Island, he became a staunch supporter of the Vineyarders.

He was predeceased by his beloved son Mark, his parents, and his sisters, Mary and Elsie Anne. He is survived by his wife; they celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary last month and were happy and content with their life on the Vineyard. He is also survived by his five cherished children: William Jr. (and his life partner Nancy Page), Rebecca Boggess (and her husband Robert Rawls), Luke (and his wife Lee Diamond), Fritz (and his wife Maryann Driscoll) and Robert. He is also survived by his three grandsons, Patrick Rawls (and his wife Michelle), Christopher Rawls and Patrick Boggess, and his great-grandson, Jackson Rawls.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on July 9 in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown. Interment followed in the New Westside Cemetery.

Donations may be made to the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard, tax-deductible payment to the County of Dukes County; P.O. Box 190, Edgartown, MA 02539 (memo should read Animal Shelter), or the Edgartown Senior Center, P.O. Box 1295, Edgartown, MA 02539 or the Oak Bluffs Senior Center, P.O. Box 1379, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.

Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.