Date Created: 06/26/2017
Last Updated: 07/24/2017

A loving father, my mentor, my hero!
2/19/1924 - 5/5/2017

Location: Delray Beach, Florida

Visits: 106,901

This man touched so many lives in so many ways. A father, a son, a brother, a husband, a grandfather, an uncle, a teacher and a friend.
As a father he was fiercely protective, with high expectations and a force to be reckoned with.
He was a dutiful and loyal son, though he kept my grandma running, so the stories go!
He was extensively involved with family and friends, attending gatherings and hosting many.
As a teacher he was a strict taskmaster with high expectations. His students looked up to him, and he maintained relationships with many students, years after teaching.
He took a keen and active interest in people, especially someone who showed interest in bettering themselves. He would make himself available to help them with unlimited enthusiasm. He encouraged everyone to question others and especially themselves. He invariably assumed a devil's advocate role, often frustrating the very people he loved and desperately wanted to influence.
He had several significant partnerships with woman whom he loved and respected dearly. The one left behind, Carol, will surely testify of his devotion and the tremendous hole that is left in his wake.
He experienced great loss in his life, though to know him you would not suspect this. He was a man who lived in the moment at 110 percent. He focused on others rather than himself.
He had degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering. He also a was a bio engineer, known as professor Blesser, heading his department at Poly Tech institute in Brooklyn. He loved his work, but his passions were eclectic and numerous.
Among his many talents he was an accomplished musician, painter, writer and carpenter. But I would have to say, his truest passion was understanding human behavior and motivating people to "think". While going through his papers, I discovered many papers he had written, which he called "rambles". They included a variety of subjects. His favorite subject by far was titled the Think/Feel ratio. I will include some of his writing in another section if you dare to challenge yourself. The Think/Feel ratio ideas were significant for me, and served as a catalyst for change in my life. His theories helped me to understand and be more aware of how my thoughts were instrumental in influencing my every action. We would have many long discussions on this topic. These ideas impacted my life in such positive and dramatic ways. Ultimately they helped enable me to change my negative thinking to positive, which resulted in powerful change in my life
He tried to convince you he was gruff and unemotional, but nothing could be further from the truth. And any of you fortunate enough to have seen through his exterior persona, knew he was extremely sensitive and possessed a depth of compassion, unparalleled by most. He often claimed disdain for the human race, but he had to have optimism in our kind, because he never gave up trying. He is my true example of honor and integrity personified.

 
 
 
 

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Current Memories

From: Carol Nussbaum Tuesday, July 25, 2017
I remember being at a posh affair at Mara Lago (sp?) with Bill. As we were offered cocktails and hors d'oeuvres around the beautifully lighted pool over looking the ocean, prior to having our photo taken with the speaker of the evening, Colin Powell, and prior to a fancy dinner, Bill looked at me with a big grin and said, "Look what I fell into!" You had to love him.



From: Carol Nussbaum Tuesday, July 25, 2017
I remember being at a posh affair at Mara Lago (sp?) with Bill. As we were offered cocktails and hors d'oeuvres around the beautifully lighted pool over looking the ocean, prior to having our photo taken with the speaker of the evening, Colin Powell, and prior to a fancy dinner, Bill looked at me with a big grin and said, "Look what I fell into!" You had to love him.



From: Bonnie Roehrs Sunday, July 23, 2017
BELOW IS AN INTERVIEW DONE BY NICK KAWAGUCHI FOR A HIGH SCHOOL PROJECT



From: Bonnie Roehrs Monday, July 17, 2017
1. What is your name and where did you grow up? Bill Blesser born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Brooklyn. 2. Were you drafted (if applicable) or why did you enlist in the armed service? I enlisted in the armed forces. I was not happy with the already growing war across seas and at the time of Pearl Harbor was trying to join but was still only 17 and needed consent of a guardian. 3. Why did you choose the branch of service you joined? Glad that I enlisted I would be able to choose the branch I wanted. I also figured it would be a great opportunity to learn about new technology I did not understand. So I joined the Air Force. 4. Tell me about your boot camp/training experiences. The actual boot camp training that I received was at Atlantic City. Nothing in my mind really stuck out from the experience, except discipline. 5. Did you serve during wartime? Yes the Korean War. 6. What was your job/assignment? After studying planes inside and out I was originally assigned to the A-20 bomber to be its’ mechanic, though ended up becoming a gunner in many instances. I was part of the 13th Air Born. 7. Tell me about your memorable experiences. Shaving with no water or mirror on a train 8. Were you awarded any medals or citations? How did you get them? I got stripes and medals for being a good shot. 9. How did you stay in touch with your family? At first I would write more often because I was not over seas but once there things changed. I didn’t write as often, but would when I could. Especially with everyone worrying about me. I can’t worry if the mail gets delayed. 10. What did you think of your fellow soldiers or officers? There was a great deal of respect for superiors and a general friendship among soldiers. Plus you were meeting people from all over the place. That was not to say racism was not still an issue. I had not one black person on my squad. 11. Did you make any close relationships while in the service? Do you continue any of those relationships? No one really close to say, I have 1 or two friends. Al though we have not had contact in years. 12. What did you do/ what do you do as a career after your time in the service? Went on to teach, raise a family, help with research for the artificial heart and give you this information. (my Grandpa is funny) 13. How did your service affect your life? It affected me in many on many different levels. It gave me so much discipline plus knowledge/experiences that I would have never been able to do unless I joined the service. It showed me the true value of a life. Ask your own question: what was probably the most boring time in the army? My first flight over seas to New Guinea. It was a 35 hour non stop flight. Ask your own question: Did you ever feel that where you were put to fight was not where you should be fighting? I wanted to be where I felt I could make the most difference, but I at the same time I knew the army had a plan and under their authority I would go where they said and fight who they said to fight.

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