NEWPORT, Vt. – William A. Fyfe III, 88, former representative to the Vermont House from Newport, Vt., passed away in Newport on Thursday, Dec. 23. He was the beloved husband of Barbara Potter Fyfe.

“Bill” was born on July 30, 1916 in Melrose, Mass., the son of William A. and Wilhelmina (Frasier) Fyfe. He spent several years in Massachusetts as well as in Maine before moving to St. Johnsbury, Vt., where they lived from 1953 to 1966.

Bill served in the U.S. Army during the mid 1940s.

He worked for Swift and Co. in Maine, as well as Massachusetts and Vermont for 22 years.

He was a hospital administrator in St. Johnsbury, Vt. and an administrator for the local mental health organization and a past member of the Rotary and IOOF in St. Johnsbury.

When he and “Barb” moved to Newport in 1966, he served the Newport Police Department as Dispatcher, ran the Orleans County Jail and was a lifetime member of the Elks Newport Lodge 2155 and the American Legion Newport Post 21 and was also a 50-year member of the Masonic order in St. Johnsbury.

He was listed in the “Who’s Who in the East.”

Bill served 18 years in the Vermont House and at one time was the oldest member of the House. His efforts are very evident in many different projects that have been done in the area over the last several years. He was a very civic-minded person, serving many different organizations in his quiet unassuming way, as well as local and state government. He was a man who had the reputation of getting things done.

Bill and Barb had their 65th anniversary on Dec. 16. They enjoyed traveling to such places as Europe, Scotland, Italy, Hawaii and Florida.

He also enjoyed playing cribbage. Bill was very athletic in his younger years and was an expert ski jumper, even trying out for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team. He will be missed by his friends at Hoagies and several other restaurants that he and Barb often went to.

He is survived by his wife, Barb, of Newport, Vt.; his children, John A. Fyfe of Newport, Vt., Andrea Fyfe Smith of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and William Fyfe IV and his wife, Mary-Jo, of Colchester, Vt.; his brothers, Phillip and his wife, Theda, and Donald of Auburn; his sister, Dorothy Cole and her husband, Clarence, of Auburn; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by two brothers; and his son-in-law, Ronald A. Smith, in November of 2003.

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