 1917 - 2001 (84 years)
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| Name |
William Calvin Banning |
| Born |
23 May 1917 |
New York, USA  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
29 Jun 2001 |
Tacoma Park, Maryland, USA |
| Buried |
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA |
| Person ID |
I19350 |
Family Tree |
| Last Modified |
1 Apr 2024 |
| Father |
Kendall Banning, b. 20 Sep 1879, New York, New York, USA , d. 27 Dec 1944, Fort Howard, Maryland, USA (Age 65 years) |
| Mother |
Dorothy Carter Sanders, b. 17 Aug 1891, New Jersey, USA , d. 15 Apr 1979, Washington, District of Columbia, USA (Age 87 years) |
| Married |
15 Nov 1915 |
Borough of Manhattan, New York, New York, USA |
| Family ID |
F1817 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 |
Katherine Whitaker, b. 16 Jan 1921, Washington, District of Columbia, USA , d. 11 Oct 2015 (Age 94 years) |
| Divorced |
Yes |
| Children |
|
| Last Modified |
12 Jun 2016 |
| Family ID |
F9635 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Obituary & Death Notice |
 | William Banning
William Calvin Banning, Electrical Engineer
William Calvin Banning, 84, an electrical engineer who did reliability testing of satellite components for the National Security Agency, died of renal failure June 29 at Washington Adventist Hospital. He lived in Silver Spring.
Mr. Banning also served in the Army Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1958.
He was a native of New York who attended McKinley Technical High School.
He was a 1939 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and also received a second bachelor's degree, in electrical engineering, from the University of Louisville.
He served in the Signal Corps in North Africa and Europe during World War II and as a cryptographic security officer in Germany after the war. He resigned his commission in 1949 but continued with the National Guard and Army Reserve. He worked for the Naval Security Station starting in 1951 and retired from the NSA in 1979.
Mr. Banning was a Boy Scout master and commissioner, former treasurer of Christ Episcopal Church in Kensington and a member of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring and the Lutheran Lay Theology and Fellowship organizations.
He also belonged to the Army-Navy Club, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Phoenix Society, Military Order of World Wars, National Rifle Association, Potomac River Jazz Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.
His marriage to Katherine Whitaker ended in divorce. His second wife, Mildred Stirratt, died in 1989.
Survivors include his wife, Shirley Banning of Silver Spring; two children from his first marriage, Richard C. Banning of Takoma Park and Julia Millar of Juneau, Alaska; two sons from his second marriage, Charles K. Banning of Annandale and Edward S. Banning of Old Lyme, Conn.; and a grandson. |
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| Notes |
- William Calvin Banning was born in New York City, the only child of LTC Kendall and Dorothy Banning. He was most fortunate that the schools he attended were like prep schools?Friends Seminary Elementary in New York, McKinley Tech High School in Washington, DC, and Bulkeley High School in New London, CT. His adolescence was spent in the bucolic hills and on the shore of Old Lyme, CT. He and his best friend, Scotty Thompson, camped out, swam, hunted and fished, and listened to music, a love he was to carry through life. He also was an avid member of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.
"Bill" entered West Point in August 1935 and graduated 12 Jun 1939. His first assignment was at an Air Corp flying school, where he studied navigation and airplane mechanics. In December 1939, he was assigned to the 6th Infantry Regiment at Jefferson Barracks, MO, as the communications officer for the regiment. In July 1941, he transferred to the Signal Corps and was assigned to the 144th Armored Signal Company at Pine Camp, NY, where he organized and operated schools for radio operators, repairmen, and other communication personnel. He wrote much of the signal operations instructions for armored divisions and all of the instructions for replacement centers.
Bill was a Signal Corps observer with the British Eighth Army in Egypt and developed an improved method of wiring the radio and intercommunication systems for tanks. He served with a Signal battalion in combat in Europe and was in charge of the automatic telephone equipment in Heidelberg, Germany. From December 1946 until August 1947, he was cryptography security officer at the Army Security Agency, Europe.
Bill resigned his commission as a lieutenant colonel in 1949 but continued with the National Guard and Army Reserves. He received a bachelor?s degree in electrical engineering from Speed Engineering School, University of Louisville, in 1951. From 1951 until 1979, Bill served with the Naval Security Station, Washington, DC, and with the National Security Agency at Ft. Meade.
His first marriage to Katherine Whitaker ended in divorce. Together, they had two children, Richard and Julia. After the war, he married Mildred Stirratt and they had two sons, Charles and Edward. Upon Mildred?s death, Bill married Shirley Michael True.
Bill was a Scoutmaster and Cubmaster, was on the Boy Scout Commission Staffand a member of the God and Country Award Committee. He was church treasurer and a Meals on Wheels volunteer. Bill was a tender, compassionate, generous, and very witty man. Many of his friends have called him "the perfect gentleman." He was full ofcour- age that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy. He loved music, particularly jazz. He had ancestors on both sides of the Civil War and had a keen interest in that war. Bill was enthusiastic in everything, whether work or play, and would try anything. Failure or adversity did not discourage him. He had self-esteem, assurance, and persistent determination.
Bill?s father, Kendall, was an editor, noted author (he wrote West Point Today), and poet. Bill spent many evenings reading the books of his father?s poems. One of his favorites was an invocation from The Great Adventure.
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