William (Bill) Lewis Brockner, born Oct. 24, 1941 in New York and died on Saturday, June 28, 2014, at his home Mill Point on the East River, Mathews County, Va.
He attended William and Mary College, graduated from Jacksonville University and received his law degree from American University. He served in the U.S. Army from 1965-1968 and served in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1971, attaining the rank of Captain.
He retired with 40 years of service from the Internal Revenue Service in the Exempt Organization Division in Washington, D.C. During his tenure with the IRS, Bill would travel to various states teaching exempt organization compliance, rules and regulations.
Bill, despite being, of all things, a tax lawyer, was a horse of a different color, a genuine romantic. He was a polymath, interested and deeply knowledgeable in a vast range of subjects, but first and foremost, he was an antiquarian, fascinated by history and historical artifacts. He collected old books, antique toys, gadgets, geegaws and, above all, memories of days past, especially the Civil War. He and Martha Ellen traveled extensively both abroad and in the U.S.
Bill studied every important Civil War battleground, and stayed at many old bed and breakfast houses and inns that witnessed those battles. He could discourse in great detail about every one of them. His interests ranged from European history, American history and local Mathews history, classical music, pop music, classic films, fine wines and spirits, all the way to photography, historic preservation and environmentalism (about which he was passionate) and, of course, tax law relating to exempt organizations, on which he was an expert.
He was active in the Mathews Library Men’s Book Club, Mathews Yacht Club, Mathews Historical Society, “Save the World Club,” Surratt Society, Harpers Ferry Historical Association, and numerous other organizations. He was a member of Mathews Sesquicentennial Committee.
Bill is survived by his wife of 27 years, Martha Ellen Traband Brockner; his step-children, Tolson DeSa (Patty) and Emily Leslie (Jason); three grandchildren; sister-in-law, Sarah Caramia (John), and three rescue pugs and three rescue cats.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 723, Mathews, Va. 23109 and Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society, P.O. Box 385, Gloucester, Va. 23061.