Wearing his trademark bow tie, Bill Wilcox, left, is pictured at the New Hope Center earlier this year with Clifton Truman Daniel, oldest grandson of former U.S. President Harry S. Truman. (Photos by D. Ray Smith)
Bill Wilcox, a passionate advocate for preserving Oak Ridge’s history who was known for his bow ties and captivating storytelling, died Monday evening. He was 90.
Wilcox died at NHC, longtime friend Gordon Fee said. He had been moved there from Methodist Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized for almost three weeks with heart issues and shortness of breath, Fee said.
“We’ve lost a person who had more knowledge of our history than anyone else I’ve ever known,” said friend D. Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and newspaper columnist.
Wilcox was a chemist who started working at Y-12 during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal project to build the world’s first atomic bombs.
