The Rev. Dr. William Vincent Pietschdied peacefully at Kendal in Hanover, New Hampshire on May 19, 2016, after a long illness. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923, the son of Nell Young Pietsch and Winfred Vincent Pietsch. He grew up in Ridgewood, NJ, attended the Ridgewood schools and received the degree of Bachelor of Science in engineering from Northwestern University.

Dr. Pietsch attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and was stationed in Memphis, TN during World War II. While there on duty, he also became the talented and humorous cartoonist for the base newspaper. After discharge from the Navy, Dr. Pietsch married Barbara Bain and the couple had two children, James William and Patricia Ellen. Pietsch worked for the Bacon Pietsch Company, founded by his father, a company that manufactured stone mining and crushing equipment.

"۬While working for the Bacon Pietsch Company, Pietsch felt called to study for the ministry and graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with the degree of Master of Divinity. Dr. Pietsch was ordained into the Presbyterian Church in 1952 and served as the minister of Presbyterian churches in Dearborn MI and in Zanesville OH. Following these positions, Dr. Pietsch served as a Presbyterian chaplain at Ohio State University and as Assistant Minister at the Westminster Foundation of the Presbyterian Church at Ohio State University, and then as Associate Minister of the First Presbyterian Church in New Canaan, CT.

Making a change in the scope of his ministry, Dr. Pietsch attended the American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry (now the Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center); at the end of his study there, he earned the degree of Doctor of Ministry from Andover Newton and established a private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist. He also authored two books which are still being published: the first is "Human Be-ing: How to Have a Creative Relationship Instead of a Power Struggle" issued from HarperCollins and the second is "The Serenity Prayer Book" issued by Trafford.

In 1988, Dr. Pietsch married the Rev. Dr. Louise Parsons Weld, an Episcopal priest. The Pietschs first lived in Westport, CT and then in Ridgefield, CT until, in 2002, they moved to a Continuing Care Retirement Community -Kendal- in Hanover, NH. Dr. Pietsch continued to study and write and also became the Kendal cartoonist, making humorous contributions to the Kendaltimes, a community news sheet. He contributed to the Kendal community in several other ways until he died at Kendal following a long illness.

Dr. Pietsch is survived by his wife Louise Parsons Pietsch and his son James William Pietsch, his daughter Patricia Ellen Pietsch and his three grandchildren Shauna Wise, Alea Wise and Miles Pietsch. He is also survived by two stepsons, one stepdaughter and eight step grandchildren.

A family service will be held in Maine in the summer.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Rand-Wilson Funeral Home of Hanover, NH.