SHELBURNE, Mass. – William D. Alden, formerly of Greenfield, Mass., died Saturday, July 28, at the Anchorage Nursing Home.

He was born in Conway, Mass., on Dec. 17, 1921, the son of William M. and Alice (Flagg) Alden. He was a graduate of the former Arms Academy in Shelburne Falls, Class of 1939.

He was a veteran of World War II in the Pacific Theater, serving with the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945. On April 19, 1942, he married Lesley J. Wilson of Charlemont, Mass.

After a brief employment at the Greenfield Tap and Die Corp., he became a civil engineer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, retiring in 1983, after 38 years. In high school, he was an outstanding athlete, excelling in basketball and baseball. While raising a family in Shelburne Falls, he was very active in coaching youth sports teams.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years; a daughter, Donna Shepherd, and her husband, Lee, of Heath, Mass.; a son, James Alden, and his wife, Candace, of Auburn; three grandchildren, Michael Phillips, and his wife, Karen, of Gill, Mass., Caroline Hanson, and her husband, Brewster, of Lebanon, N.H., and Daniel Alden of Belmont, Mass.; and two great-grandchildren, Katelyn and Mackenzie Phillips of Gill, Mass.