Obituary of Bill Van Riper

Bill Van Riper was born June 5, 1929, died suddenly June 16, 2021 while singing on a stage in front of many friends in Florida. He was predeceased by all his 6 brothers and sisters and his parents. When Bill was orphaned at age 6, he went to live in Pequannock NJ, where he lived most of the next 60 years and raised his family with his first wife June and had 2 daughters Kathy Van Riper Harrison and Nancy Van Riper Steed.  He also had 2 sons Bill and Bob Van Riper, 13 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. 

After his first wife June passed away in 1994, he married his second wife Joan and they moved Florida.  Joan passed away in 2014 and that’s when at age 85 he found his new love, singing. He never sang before and for the next 7 years he enjoyed singing all over Florida. 

Bill was a proud World War 2 veteran.  He loved playing tennis up to age 88. He worked at Picatinny Arsenal as a munitions handler, a freight handler and a clerk. In 1953 he left to work for Prudential as a life insurance agent and in 1963 left Prudential to start his own independent agency out of his house on the Boulevard in Pompton Plains. He retired after 41 years in the life insurance business when he moved to Florida. 

Bill was a past Pequannock Board of Education member, a VP of Consistory at the First Reformed Church in Pompton Plains and taught Sunday school for many years. He was member of the Pequannock First Aid Squad for about a year. He was most proud of his work with Pequannock Valley Rotary Club where he earned their highest honor of a Paul Harris Fellow. He later joined the Ocala Florida Rotary club in Florida and received the Paul Harris Fellow award there too. He delivered meals to the homebound weekly in Florida every Monday. 

He volunteered almost 5,000 hours at the Villages Hospital 4 times a week.

He will be remembered at a NJ memorial service at the First Reformed Church, 529 Newark Pompton Turnpike in Pompton Plains on July 17, 2021 at 4pm. There will also be a Florida memorial service at the Community United Methodist Church, located at 309 College Ave, Fruitland Park, FL on August 14, 2021 at 1pm. That service will be live streamed on the internet for those wishing to watch the church will provide a link. 

In lieu of Flowers donations to Pequannock Valley Rotary, PO Box 16, Pequannock, NJ 07440 in Bill’s name would be appreciated or the Community United Methodist Church in his memory.