William J. Schroeder, 76, of Deland, Fl. passed to eternal life on Dec. 5, 2010 of mylodys-plasia and leukemia. Bill was born June 7, 1934 in Huntington, LI, New York.

In his youth, he was an Eagle Scout and counselor in Boy Scout camps in New York State. He graduated from Syracuse Univ. in 1956 with a B.S. in Forestry and worked for the Va. Division of Forestry in Charlottesville, Va. 1956 - 1959.

He attended Auburn Univ. and transferred to Clemson Univ. where he received his M.S. in Forest Entomology. He returned to the Va. Div. of Forestry. Bill began his career with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in 1966.

He obtained his PhD from Univ. of Hawaii in 1972 in Entomology/ Pathology. He worked as a research scientist to develop pest management strategies through biological control. He was a member of the Entomological Society of America, the Florida Entomological Society, the Caribbean Fruit Crops Society, the International Biological Control Society, the International Society of Citriculture, the Society of Nematologist and Sigma Xi.

He received numerous awards for leadership in science. He has published over 100 articles in scientific journals and written chapters for textbooks. He had cooperative research projects with St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, England and the Univ. of Reading, Reading, England and multiple invitations from universities world wide for scientific consults.

Bill is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jonnie McNulty Schroeder; daughter, and son-in-law, Sue and Randy Wells; and grandson, Cameron of Dawsonville, Ga.; daughter and son-in-law, Libby and Barton Weeks; grandson, Tripp and granddaughter, Maddy of Chuluota, Fl.; brother, Herbert V. Schroeder of Traverse City, Mi.

Bill enjoyed travel, watercolor painting, surf fishing, his family and time spent on New Smyrna Beach.

At the end of life, Dr. Schroeder received extraordinary care from Hospice of Volusia/Flagler in Orange City, Fl. and spiritual guidance from First Presbyterian Church of Deland. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations for either of these.