William (Bill) Upholt

William Boyce Upholt of Hartford passed away at home on July 30 from complications of AL (Light Chain) Amyloidosis, surrounded by his immediate family. A Professor Emeritus of Reconstructive Sciences at the University of Connecticut Health Center, Bill was active, in addition to his professional associations, in many civic, Quaker and interfaith endeavors, and was an activist with a particular passion for issues related to the environment and earth sustainability. Bill was born in 1943 in Orlando, FL. He lived his early years in Savannah, GA, Atlanta, GA and Wenatchee, Washington, graduating from El Cerrito, CA High School in 1961, the family relocating often as his father was a commissioned officer of the U.S, Public Health Service. Bill graduated from Pomona College in 1965 with a B.A. in Chemistry and from the California Institute of Technology in 1971 with a Ph.D. in Chemistry. In 1975, after two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Amsterdam and at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Baltimore, MD, Bill took the position of Research Associate in the Department of Pediatrics and Biochemistry at the University of Chicago. In 1980 he and his family relocated to West Hartford, CT, where he took up his research position in the School of Dental Medicine at UConn. Bill, the recipient of many professional honors, also held administrative and teaching duties at UConn, and was beloved by his many colleagues and students. Bill married Mary Lee Morrison in 1980 and the couple have two children, Gretchen Morrison Upholt, of Brooklyn, NY, and Boyce Morrison Upholt of Cleveland, MS. The family traveled extensively during the children's growing years, with Bill planning many of the trips, often finding unusual and particularly adventuresome sites and venues. In addition to his wife and two children, Bill is survived by his brother, Robert Upholt, and his wife, Colleen, of Marathon, NY and extensive family who will miss him greatly