William Alexander Maddox

William “Bill” Maddox, age 85, of Canton, Ohio went home to be with his Heavenly Father, with his family by his side on April 6, 2022. Bill was born March 19, 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio to the late William and Florence Maddox. He was a 1955 graduate of Withrow High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Cincinnati in 1960. Bill accepted a job with The Timken Company in Canton, Ohio following graduation. It was here that he met his future wife, Nancy Hughes, who was working a summer job there. They married in 1962, moved to Chicago soon thereafter, and had 3 children, Laurel, Stephen and Sara. Bill and Nancy were in their 60th year of marriage at the time of his passing.

 In 1970, the family moved to North Canton, Ohio. Bill’s sales territory took him to 45 countries, and much to his chagrin, this was prior to frequent flyer programs. Bill was chosen to attend the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, which he completed in 1982. It was here he made life-long friends from around the world. During the mid-80’s, he was instrumental in The Timken Company winning their first Anti-Dumping Suit against imports from Japan, China, Hungary and Romania. In 1996, Bill and Nancy moved to the Headquarters of Timken Europe, Africa, and West Asia in Colmar, France. They traveled extensively while there, increasing Bill’s tally of countries visited to 71. After 39 years at The Timken Company, Bill retired in 1999 as General Manager-Marketing. Two months later, he returned to Timken to lead the marketing portion of the Sunset Case involving Anti-Dumping Duties levied against imports from Japan, China, Hungary and Romania.  He retired again in 2001 and started his own consulting firm.

Bill was active in the community, serving passionately at his church, and various arts and charitable organizations.  He was a member of Faith United Methodist Church in North Canton, where he served as chair of the Staff Parish Relations committee.  In 2002, he led the Cultural Center for the Arts fundraising campaign. Under his direction, funds raised exceeded 1 million dollars for the first time. For many years, he served on the board of Canton Symphony Orchestra and Goodwill Industries. He was a 39 year member of Canton Rotary and a past member of Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce.

More dear to him than career achievements and his life of community service were his family and many friends. He had many fond memories of his childhood and created many more with his wife and children in the years that followed. He valued consistent family dinners, brought his family to church weekly, planned adventurous vacations that spanned the beautiful country he loved. When his children were young adults, he took his family on one last nuclear family adventure that was full of laughter and fun from Paris to London. In later years, Bill and Nancy traveled extensively with friends. His favorite trips were to Australia and New Zealand. His favorite travel memories were climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and reaching the top of Machu Picchu. He enjoyed skiing, scuba diving, playing tennis, golf and handball with his friends, and making extremely accurate and up-to-date contact lists for his family, work and social groups. He kept people connected. This brought him immense joy and he treated it as a serious mission. He will be remembered as an honest, hard-working, generous and kind-hearted person with a good sense of humor who gave 100% to all his endeavors.

In addition to his parents, he is preceed in death by Diane (Maddox) Stuebing. He is survived by his loving wife, Nancy (Hughes) Maddox; Children: Laurel (Darryl) Browman, Stephen (Julie) Maddox, Sara (Shawn) Johnson; Grandchildren:  Aris (Andrew) Quatkemeyer, Alex Maddox, Oliva Maddox, Max Browman,  Breckie Johnson, Basil Johnson; Great Grandchildren: Scarlett Quatkemeyer, Leo Quatkemeyer; Brother David (Pat) Maddox; many nieces and nephews. Bill leaves behind many friends to cherish his memory.

The family will greet friends in the narthex of Faith United Methodist Church at 300 9th St. in North Canton, Ohio, on Tuesday April 26th from 2:30-3:45pm. Memorial Service to follow at 4:00pm.
 

Memorial contributions may be made in Bill’s name to Canton Symphony Orchestra at Cantonsymphonyorchestra.org , Goodwill Industries at goodwill.org , or Faith United Methodist Church at 300 9th St., North Canton, Ohio, 44720.

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