Far more than a D-Day survivor, Bill Tingle was (for starters) a scientist, musician, poet, cookbook author, great dad

In talking about the life of William “Bill” Tingle III, “Where do we start?” is not just a saying.

His daughter, Susan Krumpe, asked that question herself as she remembered her father Friday.

Bill Tingle was a soldier, a scientist, an inventor, a sailboat racer, a snow skier, a chess player, a saxophonist, a poet and, earlier this year, the author of a cookbook on ratatouille.

And that list doesn’t even cover it all.

“Even though he accomplished so much, he always had time for his family,” she said. “I don’t remember him ever saying, ‘I can’t do that right now,’ or anything like that. He was always present and really involved with us.”

Tingle of Lower Burrell was 105 when he died Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022.

Born in Parnassus in August 1917, Tingle lived most of his life in Lower Burrell. He was retired from Alcoa, where he worked as a research physicist for 33 years.

Tingle met his wife, Annetta (Molly) Johnson, at a dance, and they dated for a while before World War II. He was drafted into the Army, in which he served nearly four years in Europe.

He landed with a tank destroyer battalion at Utah Beach on June 19, 1944, 13 days after D-Day, said his son, Bill Tingle IV. He was the last known survivor of the D-Day campaign from the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Krumpe said her father didn’t hesitate to answer questions about his service, but wasn’t one to offer stories, especially about combat.

“I think he enjoyed the travel and the camaraderie that it offered, but not the reason for being there,” Krumpe said.

Discharged as a sergeant, Tingle returned home in October 1945 and married Johnson that December. They were married for 52 years until her passing in 1997.

“He missed her every day,” Krumpe said.

Krumpe said her father had an interest in everything.

“He enjoyed new challenges and learning new things, which gave us great inspiration in life, too,” Bill IV said.

After first skiing in Norway while on a business trip, Krumpe said her father became passionate about it. He took her and her brother to Seven Springs frequently, inspiring them to become ski instructors.

Krumpe said her father came to sailing, his first love, after she and her brother told their parents about seeing people sailing at Keystone State Park. He went to check it out and got hooked. But just floating around wasn’t enough, so he raced.

“He wanted to have a purpose for being out there, and he liked the competition,” she said.

If a long life is genetic, Krumpe said her father got it from his mother’s side of their family. She said her father would give different answers when asked what he attributed his longevity to, but there was one that stood out.

“He made good decisions,” she said. “He tried to make good decisions all along.”

Krumpe said her father missed family and friends he outlived, and he esd would talk of them fondly and tell stories. She described her father as optimistic and forward-thinking.

“He kept up with science and technology and national and global events until his final days,” Bill IV said. “He was so tuned in.”

From her father, Krumpe said she learned how to be a good person and make good decisions.

“He had such a positive outlook on life. It inspired you to be positive as well,” she said. “He went through his trials and tribulations. He remembers being quite poor and that life wasn’t just a bowl of cherries. He just always had a good, positive attitude.”

While his parents were at Forbes Field when Bill Mazeroski hit the home run that won the Pittsburgh Pirates the 1960 World Series in Game 7, Bill IV holds the memories of playing catch with his father.

“The fact that he lived to 105, I miss him even more,” Bill IV said. “We had more and more years with him than most people with their father.”

Visitation for Bill Tingle III will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 until services at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Frank F. Gigler Funeral Home in Lower Burrell. He will be buried in Henderson Cemetery in Harmar.