Obituary of William M. Wilkie
William (Bill) McLeod Wilkie, 81, of Manahawkin, NJ passed away peacefully on Monday, February 2, 2026. Bill was born on September 26, 1944, in Kearny, NJ to James William Wilkie and Abigail McLeod Wilkie. He spent his life serving in the United States Army and National Guard, raising a family, vacationing with his family, and working in the computer software programming industry.
Bill is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carol Ann (Bartiromo) Wilkie and his two daughters, Tracey Wilkie-Hanlon of Millersville, MD and Carrie Ann Wilkie Kuklinski (Brian Kuklinski) of Collegeville, PA along with four grandsons, Emerson McLeod Hanlon (MD), Liam Ellis Hanlon (MD), Dylan Victor Kuklinski (PA) and Aiden William Kuklinski (PA); along with several nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his father, James William Wilkie and his mother Abigail (McLeod) Wilkie, his brother Charles Wilkie and sister Abigail (Wilkie) O’Driscoll.
He graduated from Kearny High School, Kearney, NJ in June of 1962. Bill joined the U.S. Army in 1964 and trained at the U.S. Army Training Center in Fort Dix, NJ before being shipped off to Pusan Taegu, Korea. He became a military police officer in the 142 nd Military Police Company in Pusan. He was honorably discharged as SP4 BTRY B 5 th BN, 112 th FA from the Army in 1966. Additionally, Bill spent several years serving in the Army National Guard.
He married Carol Ann Bartiromo in 1969 and lived in Kearny, NJ until 1973 when he moved to Manahawkin, NJ with his wife Carol Ann and first daughter, Tracey. In 1978, they welcomed their second daughter, Carrie, into the family. Over the years they welcomed and loved three dogs as well.
Bill worked at Lehigh Press/Rocappi programming typesetting machines for several well-known published books. He configured the typesetting for the New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible using English, Hebrew, and Greek dictionaries. He attended Hebrew school on LBI with Rabbi Novak to understand the Hebrew Language and how to use it in this Bible Concordance. He received a complimentary copy of the Concordance from The Lochman Foundation in 1981, acknowledging his hard work and dedication to getting the concordance completed.
Bill also worked at Hitachi Data Systems as a Senior Systems Software Engineer working on mainframe computer systems for the NJ State Police, Mobile Oil, UPS etc. In 1988, he manned the computers for the Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, to ensure that all statistics from each event were recorded and archived accurately. In 1982 Bill and his wife established a computer programming and accounting consulting business, where he continued to write computer programs for private software companies until retiring in 2022.
Bill enjoyed writing computer programs for various projects; fishing and crabbing on his Boston Whaler; going to the Elks or Moose Lodge to see his friends and have a beer or two and play his favorite Doo Wop music in the juke box.
Those who knew Bill will remember him for his kindness and generosity. Bill never passed up an opportunity to help someone. He always helped others in need without ever asking for anything in return. He loved his family first and foremost. He was an amazing husband and father, and he will be missed dearly.
A Celebration of Life will take place in early Spring. Details will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, a donation in memory of William Wilkie may be made to:
Stafford Township Emergency Medical Services
365 East Bay Avenue
Manahawkin, NJ 08050
(Online Donations may be made through the link provided under Stafford Township EMS Donations).
