WILMINGTON — William “Bill” Mintzell, 82, of Plantation Village, passed away Sunday, May 28, 2017, from complications of Parkinson’s disease and dementia at Davis Health Care Center under the care of Hospice. He was born Nov. 27, 1934, in Washington, D.C., to the late Elmer F. Mintzell and Ethel Carter Mintzell (age 100) in Alexandria, Va.
Bill graduated from George Washington High School in 1953 and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Strayers Business College in D.C. in 1958. He became an agent for State Farm Insurance, where he was employed for 36 years, first in Arlington, Va., then in Baltimore, Md. He and his wife Lee, his high school sweetheart, celebrated 64 years of marriage in early May. They enjoyed many wonderful trips abroad with the State Farm group.
He received his private pilots license in 1976. Bill and Lee enjoyed many memorable days on their sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay.
Bill was a deacon and elder at the Second Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Md. Bill retired in 1997 and he and Lee moved to Porters Neck Plantation, a golf community to enjoy warmer weather and golf which had become Bill’s passion. Bill learned golf a few years before retirement, but he found he enjoyed the game more than anything else. He shot a hole in one in Porters Neck in December of 2003.
Bill is survived by his wife, Lee Tappy Mintzell; son, Frederick Lee (Rick) Mintzell, and his recently deceased wife Deborah Mintzell; daughter, Dana Davis, and her husband, Carl, of Cocoa, Fla.; two grandchildren, Matthew Marshall Draskovich and Stacia Michaud, and her husband, Justin; five great-grandchildren of Orlando, Fla.; brother-in-law, Phil Tappy, and his wife, Lisa; two nephews, Skip Tappy, and his wife, Jeanne, and Lee Tappy, and his wife, Robin.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, June 2, at First Presbyterian Church, 125 S. 3rd St., Wilmington, NC 28401.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Parkinson’s Association of the Carolinas, 1515 Mockingbird Lane, Suite 1055, Charlotte, NC 28209 (866)903-7275; First Presbyterian Church, 1255 3rd St., Wilmington, NC 28401; or Lower Cape Fear Hospice, 1414 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401.
Many heartfelt thanks to the employees of Davis Nursing Home and the Community of Plantation Village.
Share online condolences with the family at andrewsmortuary.com.
