William B Mahlstedt's Obituary
William Burton Mahlstedt Sept. 30, 1925 – June 9, 2013 William “Bill” Burton Mahlstedt (87) died June 9, 2013 in Oakland where he was born Sept. 30, 1925 to Amelia and Louis Mahlstedt. He lived much of his life in the family home on Fifth Avenue where he grew up. Bill attended Cleveland Elementary and graduated from Oakland High in 1944. He was working in the Alameda shipyards during World War II when he lost his sight in one eye in an industrial accident. Bill graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on transportation and shipping traffic management. He briefly attended the College of the Pacific in Stockton where he played football under the famed coach Amos Alonzo Stagg. He had a 25-year career devoted to selling steamship freight services and access to port facilities in Detrott, Michigan. Bill returned from Michigan to his family home to assist his brother Roy Mahlstedt, who had become a paraplegic in an industrial accident on Midway Island at the beginning of World War II. The two brothers maintained the family house in Oakland and traveled together extensively across the United States. Bill constantly communicated with a myriad of friends & relatives through letter writing and calling. He was an avid and knowledgeable collector of model airplane engines and railroad memorabilia. Bill is proceeded in death by his two sisters, Mildred Easter-brooks and Nyla Shafer, and his two brothers, Everett and Roy Mahlstedt. He is survived by four nieces and two nephews. Bill frequently put a copy of the 23rd Psalm in his correspondence and often wrote the final measure, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” A simple service for family only will be held when his ashes are interned at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland.
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