William Vincent Gehrlein's Obituary
William V. Gehrlein “Bill”, age 80, of Lewes, DE, passed away peacefully on July 17, 2026. Born in Erie, PA, on June 8, 1946, he was the son of the late Vincent and Eunice (Knauff) Gehrlein.
Bill is survived by his wife of 25 years, Barbara Eller, two step-daughters – Nikki (Christopher) Carlsen and Lauren (Aaron) Dymond, 6 grandchildren – Kaitlyn, Alexis and Grady Carlsen and Elena, Noah and Ezra Dymond. He is also survived by two brothers and a sister – Gordon (Martha) Gehrlein, Robert Gehrlein, and Linda Kepner, along with numerous nieces and nephews.
Bill graduated from McDowell High School in 1964, where he participated in cross-country, wrestling and track and field. He obtained a B.S. in Physics from Gannon College in 1968. After graduation from Gannon, Bill served in the U.S. Army before starting graduate studies at Penn State, earning an M.S. in Physics in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Business Administration in 1975. Most of his professional career was spent as a Professor of Operations Management at the University of Delaware until his retirement in 2013. In addition to Bill’s teaching activities on campus that were focused on graduate and undergraduate courses in Operations Management, he also taught in the Executive MBA Program, the DuPont MBA Program and under USAID program grants in both Varna, Bulgaria and Sarajevo, Bosnia. Other international teaching took place in Geneva, Switzerland and at the University of Caen, France. Bill was also active for several years in consulting activities, primarily involving statistical analysis for DuPont.
Bill was a very prolific author, with research interests spanning topics in Operations Management, Social Choice Theory, Statistics, and Mathematics, which resulted in seven books and over 125 research articles. He was interested in genealogy, which led to extensive written genealogies for both of his parents. Ancestors were found who served in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, making him eligible for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution and in the General Society of the War of 1812.
Being active and spending time outdoors was a source of enjoyment for Bill. His interest in running continued for most of his adult life, running in a number of half-marathons, and numerous 5K and 10K races. Bill spent several years building a log cabin in the woods of Maine, without any electricity or generator. He did all of the work by hand, without the assistance of power tools. Bill especially enjoyed the summers there near Rangeley after retirement, with his wife, Barb, gardening and having family visit. It was a magical place that had a low-level Ninja Warrior Course built for the grandchildren when they visited. He also loved to fish. Bill spent his childhood fishing in the bay off Erie, went on fishing trips to Canada with his brother Gordon, spent countless hours fishing on Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Maine, and went on annual trips to Alaska for 12 years, with Barb, to fish the Kachemak Bay from Homer. His fishing in Homer led to him becoming active in pursuits related to the significant impact of bycatch from trawling in the commercial fishing industry.
Bill and Barb traveled extensively, visiting almost every Western European country and many Eastern European countries, as well as the Virgin Islands, Japan and Reunion Island. They also spent time traveling throughout the U.S., visiting more than twenty-five national parks.
A celebration of life for family and friends will be held on Saturday, July 25, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at La Casa Pasta, 120 Four Seasons Parkway, Newark, Delaware. A celebration of life will be held in Rangeley at a later date. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill’s memory to Delaware Hospice (https://delawarehospice.org/give/), 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19963.
Please visit Bill's Life Memorial at https://www.parsellfuneralhomes.com
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