William Charles Sobczak

William Charles Sobczak passed away at his home on February 24, 2016 in Mesa Arizona. He was 72.

Bill, as he was known to most, was born to William Anthony Sobczak and Stella Helen Jezka Sobczak in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 2, 1943 and was raised and attended school on the “South Side” of Pittsburgh. After graduating from Baldwin Township Public High School in 1961, he attended Electronics School and soon began a job with Boeing Aircraft where he was involved with building, installing, and testing on the Minuteman Missile Project during and after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He traveled throughout the Midwestern and Western United States, working on the project and living in a number of locations including Minot, North Dakota, where he met and married his former wife, Roeann Harper in 1965. His children were born in 1967 in Langdon, North Dakota and in 1971 in Lewiston, Idaho.

In 1971, he began a position with the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in Denver, Colorado and was eventually transferred to Mesa, Arizona in 1975. He lived there the rest of his life. He held a variety of positions with AT&T over the next 30 years, among them, developing AT&T’s first CD project in the late 1980s.

Though he never attended formal college, Bill was an incredibly quick learner, always educating himself and keeping up with the forefront of technological advancements. He loved fixing and tinkering with televisions, electronic equipment, computers… anything that was new and exciting. He taught his children how to fix things and passed his abilities down to them, both of whom use these skills in their careers and lives today. He loved following sports and seeing concerts and in the last years of his life, attended literally hundreds of games and shows with friends and co-workers.

Bill is survived by his children, Angie Kay Elkins (Jerry) and Dan Charles Sobczak (Peggy); his sister, Sandy Land (James); and four granddaughters, Harper Alexandra Elkins, Cordelia Ayn Elkins, Rhea Sedona Sobczak, and Ellie Jane Sobczak, all of whom he loved and displayed pictures of throughout his home.

He is preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Robert Arthur Sobczak; and a granddaughter, Gillian Lee Elkins.

A family service will take place at a later date near his childhood home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.