John William (Bill) Drenning, 93, from Frederick, Maryland, died August 26, 2022 in Homewood at Frederick. He died only eighteen days before his death by his wife of 72 years, Sarah Catherine (Sari) Thomas Drenning, and formerly by his sisters Patricia Dudlow of Woodsboro, Maryland, and Ellen Hirsch of Dover, Pennsylvania. was given. He is survived by his son James Craig (Jim) Drenning and his wife Gail of Chestertown, Maryland. His daughter, Jennifer (Jenni) Drenning Dean and her husband Donald (Don), from Frederick, Maryland. His brother, C. Dahl Drenning and wife Peggy, from Woodsboro, Maryland. Five grandchildren: Brian Drenning with wife Denise, Craig Drenning with wife Jaime, Rebecca Dean Smith with husband Walter, Erin Drenning Johnson with husband Chris, Emily Dean with partner Nate Klendenen . Eight great-grandchildren of Jackson Drenning, Nolan Drenning, Harper Drenning, Ruby Smith, Wesley Drenning, Zoe Johnson, Declan Smith and Theodore Johnson.
Born September 16, 1928 in Bruceville, Maryland, he was the son of John Wesley (Cap) Drenning and Mary Kathryn (Kitty) Ayler Drenning. Bill attended Woodsboro Elementary School. Walkersville High School, where he was the 1945 senior class president. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) with a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1950. While attending JHU, he was the House Manager of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and a member of the Johns Hopkins Glee Club.
On October 1, 1949, he married his high school sweetheart Sarah Catherine Thomas. While they lived in Frederick, he worked as a junior engineer in the local line division of the Edison Company in his Potomac. In 1950, Bill was transferred to the R. Paul He Smith Power Plant in Williamsport, Maryland, where he worked as a test engineer. In 1951, his family moved to Baltimore, where Bill began his 25-year career in the metal products division of his Koppers Co. Inc. He first qualified in the field as a test and service his engineer, traveling throughout the United States and Canada setting up electrostatic precipitators. He paper mills, steel mills, cement factories, power plants. Field at Koppers After two years in the service department he was transferred to the research and development department where as a senior engineer he designed, developed and field tested the electrical controls for electrostatic precipitators and corrugated carton machines. rice field. During that time he obtained his 26 US patents. He has co-authored and published several technical papers. He was a member of the Electrostatic Processes Subcommittee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He was a member and board member of the Pulp and Paper Industry Technical Association. In 1969, he was appointed Director of Engineering for Coppers’ Container Machinery Division in Glenarm, Maryland. He was a registered professional engineer in Maryland.
In 1975, he resigned from Coppers and moved to Frederick County, where he, Sulli and family members managed and operated a family farm corporation, Monocacy Knoll Farms (MKF). MKF produced bespoke beef and lamb for the consumer market. Milk for the commercial market by the Milk Producers Association of Maryland and Virginia. And crops for the cash market. In 1985, the City of Frederick acquired a dairy farm through eminent domain for the expansion of Frederick Airport. This ultimately ended his MKF farming business.
In 1986, Bill began working as a senior engineer at Rotrex near Walkersville, Maryland. While there, he traveled the world evaluating and certifying manufacturers of enclosed electric motors for use in window air conditioners. During this time, he was involved in the design and manufacture of equipment, as well as writing his computer software for testing and certifying motors. He retired from Rotrex in his 1999 and continued as a consultant until 2004.
Bill has always been at the forefront of computer technology. As part of his job, he programs his computer to accomplish tasks such as monitoring and tracking the performance of his array of active solar that he and Sari have installed on their Woodsboro hilltop property. I wrote another program for my own use. He liked to tinker with his computer hardware, preferring to design and build his own desktop his computer, constantly upgrading it as his technology progressed. Bill has meticulously maintained records, digitizing and cataloging hundreds of family photographs for posterity, and amassing a collection of family music recordings.He and Sari are avid genealogists. They have researched and documented their respective family histories, and their legacy is carried on by their grandson Brian Drenning.
Bill donated the remains to the Maryland Department of Health Autopsy Commission for medical education and research.Maryland. Bill and Sari’s life will be celebrated at Homewood at Frederick on Sunday, October 2, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. Family and friends are invited to join this celebration.
Instead of flowers, the family requests donations to the Alzheimer’s Society in Bill and Sari’s memory.
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