After Bill enlisted in the Navy he was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Because he had attended Manulus Military School he as put in charge of his recruit company and was expected to teach other recruits how to salute, drill etc. He told me how he learned how to swim under flaming water in case he was assigned to a ship hit by  enemy fire. He had not finished his senior high school year so after he was discharged he attended Olean High School before going to Alfred University where he played football. The team was made up of WW II veterans who dominated their opponents and had an undefeated season. Their after game parties were legendary. Bill then transferred to Colo A and M in FT. Collins. As an athlete Bill was more interested in skiing than football so I guess that was one reason for the transfer. Bill first learned to ski while at Manulus which was near Lake Placid.

After Bill graduated from college he worked for his father at Daily Mills in Olean until around 1954. He became an assistant to the feed mill manager and started to learn the feed business.

When I think of the young Bill (ages 20 – 40) I remember an incredibly well coordinated man.  His graceful skiing looked effortless. He was ready for any challenge especially powder skiing and steep runs. At 20 he could swim for miles in the ocean and his reaction time on a sail boat was always instantaneous. He was a natural athlete. While in the Navy, one NCO who was a major league pitcher discovered Bill. He made Bill catch for him when he practiced pitching. Bill remembered how painful a major league fast ball could be even when using a catchers mitt.

One of his jobs as a gunnery instructor in the navy was to run a flight simulator for fighter pilots. He controlled the enemy fighter plane which the pilot was supposed to shoot down. He became so good at it that the pilots often swore the experience was more difficult and pressure filled than an actual dog fight. He enjoyed making the officer pilots sweat. After the war he was tempted to get a pilots licence but he never got around to it. Most of his Naval experience was at a training center in Pennsicola Florida. Fortuately the war ended before he was due to be shipped out for the invasion of Japan.

Bill could fix any mechanical problem. He would search junk yards for spare parts for his cars and locate used equipment needed at Feed Products. He literallly rebuilt an entire Star boat. He understood how things worked and loved to tinker with all sorts of things. He loved the workshop in his boat house.

—-Bill’s brother, John Kieser