Londonderry News

William "Bill" Lievens June 6, 1917 - November 21, 1999

Thousands on foot pass by the clock tower at the Londonderry High School as they start a day of instruction, learning or supporting our students.  14,000 cars drive by on Mammoth road each day many glance at the clock and note the time or remember a time when the facade of the school was less interesting.

If one passes under the clock, they may come across a simple plaque, a simple honor to a great man who set the modern cornerstone of Londonderry in the middle of the last century.

This clock tower is dedicated to William “Bill” Lievens (1917-1999) and to the many volunteers that have given freely of themselves to enrich our community.

For more than 50 years, Bill’s involvement as an eleven-term selectman, a constituent of multiple committees, and a charter commissioner of the Londonderry Housing and redevelopment Authority contributed greatly to the quality of life in our town and inspired others to become involved in volunteer public service.

We are proud to salute Bill and those who, like him, have personified the civic-mindedness that makes New Hampshire work.

Placed under the clock tower at Londonderry High School by the Londonderry Housing and Redevelopment Authority on September 2003.

Bill Lievens of Londonderry

Obituary from the year of his death 1999

William Edward Lievens, 82, of Londonderry and Thornton, died Nov. 21, 1999 in Jacksonville, FL

He was born June 6, 1917 in South Boston, Mass the son of Edward and Helen Sewell Lievens.  After the death of his mother, his father and stepmother, Alice Lievens, raised him.  They lived in Hollis.  he graduated from Hollis High School where he was and All-State basketball player.  Mr Lievens moved to Londonderry in 1938 when he had the opportunity to buy Woodmont Orchards.  The farm became the basis for the apple wholesale business in which he was involved his entire life.  he was one of the first, in the late 1950s, to build a controlled atmosphere storage facility.  he was president of both the New Hampshire Fruit Growers and the New York – New England Apple Institute.  He was a trustee of the International Apple Institute and a co-founder of the North East Apple Society, and organization that combined the apple business and skiing.  an avid skier, he was  a member of the Waterville Valley BBTS Ski Club and supported USSA racing in volunteer capacities.

He served the town of Londonderry in many capacities.  He was a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustments and the Budget Committee and was a selectman from 1945 to 1953 and again in 1956 and 1957.  In 1968 Mr. Lievens became one of the first commissioners of the Londonderry Housing and Redevelopment Authority, a position from which he retired in 1999.  he served as a representative to SPACE.  The Londonderry Chamber of Commerce named him the Citizen of the Year in 1978.

Mr Lievens was a director of the First National Bank of Derry and later continued as a director of the succeeding Indian Head Bank. He was a trustee and officer of the former Alexander Eastman Hospital in Derry.

He enjoyed travel and playing bridge and was a loyal Celtics fan.

His first wife, Catherine Mills Lievens, and a son, William Edward Lievens II, predeceased him.  Members of the family include his wife, Merrell Kovar Lievens of Londonderry; two daughters, Susan Lievens of Bradford, Mass and Catherine Lievens Gallagher of Tucson, Ariz.; two sons, Robert Lievens and Stephen Lievens, both of Londonderry; two stepsons, Richard Kovar of Barrington, RI., and Matthew Kovar of Boston, Mass.; five grandchilderen; a sister, Elsie Lievens Weiser of Westminster, Vt.; and several nieces and nephews.

Londonderry Hometown Online News, on behalf of every citizen in Londonderry Past, Present and Future thank Bill Lievens for his lifelong commitment to the community he so loved and cherished.   His leadership from a time when the town had no Interstate Highway and a few thousand people, through the year of his passing with 24,000 people brought us the Town we have today.  His guidance through over 50 years of growth has set the foundation and the road-map for the next half century for today’s citizen volunteers.

Our normal practice when publishing obituaries is to provide a link to the funeral home.  For this memorial we provide our comment feature to pass along your own thoughts to family and friends on this 10th anniversary of Bill Lievens passing.

To see the farm that Bill Lievens built read “Mixed Use Orchard and Reatail in the Top 10 Taxpayers” the story includes an arial tour of the 264 acre farm.