Capt. George William Dilley, USMC, 83, of Seminole, FL, died Wednesday morning, May 20, 2015 at Baycare Alliant Hospital in Dunedin, FL, after a 3 week hospitalization for an acute respiratory illness. Known to family and friends as Bill, he was born April 17,1932 in Portland, OR, the oldest of three siblings to Ruby Pribble Dilley and Cmdr. Luther Luke LaSalle Dilley, USN. He was a graduate of Punahou School in Honolulu, HI, and he was the only member of his high school graduation class at Elmer Wolfe School while living in Detour, MD. He graduated from NC State University in Raleigh, NC with a BS and MS in Animal Science. Bill is predeceased by his younger sister Julianne Moon of Palm Harbor, FL and survived by his youngest sister Patricia O'Neil of Downingtown, PA. As an adolescent and a Marine, Bill witnessed three wars up close and personal. At the age of 9, he witnessed the historic Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 from his home which overlooked the harbor and Battleship Row on the island of Oahu. As a communications officer in the Marine Corps, he served his country for 20 years on both active and reserve duty, including both the Korean War in 1954 and the Vietnam War in 1965. Bill and his siblings lived all over the world, following the naval career of their father, an intelligence officer and cryptographer on the team that cracked the Japanese code which was instrumental in winning the battle of Midway in the Pacific. As a junior at NC State University in October, 1952, Bill met his first wife, Dot Rash Dilley of West Jefferson, NC. After deciding to postpone his studies, Bill joined the Marine Corps and later married Dot in Waukeegan, IL in August 1953. After returning from Korea in 1956 and resuming school at NC State, Bill and Dot went on to have 3 children, Dr. Sharon Patricia Dilley of Worcester MA, John William Luke Dilley of Fort Collins, CO, and Andrew Lindsay Dilley of Lexington, NC. Bill had a 20 year career with the Farmers Home Administration serving in Washington, Rockingham, Catawba, Mitchell, Watauga, Avery and Wilkes Counties in North Carolina. His service to the FHA was interrupted by briefly returning to school at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, which was in turn interrupted in 1965 when he served his country in the Vietnam War. After retirement from the FHA, Bill served as the interim director of the Valle Crucis Conference Center, an Episcopal conference center in the NC mountains. Bill started the Rash Christmas Tree Farm with his brother-in-law John Ila Rash, and two nephews, Ronald and Edward Rash of West Jefferson, NC. It was a partnership that lasted many years and he often said that he waited his whole life to find a job he truly loved.. In 1992, Bill relocated to Palm Harbor, FL to live with his sister Julianne and brother-in-law William Moon, after Dot's death. He helped Bill Moon run Dyna Tech, a plastic injection molding business in Largo, FL for several years. During his stay with the Moons, he met his future wife Collett Handstad Dilley while exercising at the local YMCA. Bill became the central figure of a new family consisting of a daughter Kathryn Handstad of Lakeland, FL, and many cats over the years presently consisting of Popokilani, Bones and Maximus. In his final years, Bill volunteered in the LIVESTRONG program at the YMCA of Greater St Petersburg-Bardmoor Branch helping cancer survivors with their exercise programs. He loved returning to NC every June for the Rash Family Reunion, and raising orchids in his back yard in Seminole much like his father did before him. He passed that love on to his daughter Kathryn and son John. Bill was multi-talented. He judged livestock at the NC State Fair, he was an active Boy Scout leader, and an avid gardener, growing large vegetable gardens before moving to Florida. He was a passionate woodworker that made doll houses, wooden trains, dulcimers, furniture, frames, and cabinets. He loved home improvement projects and once built 2 houses as a contractor in Conover. He also had a strong passion for sports as a youth coach in football, baseball, and basketball, a Babe Ruth Baseball Commissioner, and as a fan of the NC State Wolfpack and Tampa Bay Lightning and Rays. Bill loved and read hundreds of books with a special fondness for science fiction. Bill especially loved spending time with all his extended family and leaves behind 6 grandchildren, Ruth Sherrard Hatch of Worcester, MA, Benjamin Warren Hatch of Montreal, Canada, Rachel Louise Dilley and Andrew William Dilley of Lexington, NC, Natalie Gray Dilley of Roanoke, VA and Ursula Suzanne Dilley of Brooklyn, NY. He leaves behind 2 daughter-in-laws, Linda Lawing Dilley of Lexington, NC, and Donna Cantor Dilley, of Fort Collins, CO, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews, brothers- and sisters-in-law. There will be a memorial service on May 30, 2015 at 4:00 PM at Reese Funeral Home in Seminole, FL followed by a reception for family and friends at Collett and Bill's home in Seminole, FL. A graveside memorial service will take place at the Kemp-Lewis Cemetery in Buffalo Community in West Jefferson, NC on June 20, 2015 at 3:00pm with Rev. Tim McRee officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to your favorite animal charity or the LIVESTRONG program at the YMCA of Greater St Petersburg-Bardmoor Branch in Bill's name.