In a strange twist of cosmic fate, the Wordle on Sunday morning was ROWER. Hours earlier, one of the most decorated rowers in the history of Boathouse Row and the United States passed peacefully with family in Lititz, PA.

William Thomas Belden Jr. (Bill) was a two-time World Champion rower in the lightweight single sculls, winning gold in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1974, and Bled, Slovenia in 1979. Between 1973 and 1984 Bill was on 13 US national teams bringing home a total of seven medals (2 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze) for the United States in the lightweight single and double sculls. He also competed in the heavyweight double.

Clocking in at 5'9'' and 155 lbs., Bill was a lightweight who could beat guys that out-weighed him by 80 lbs., which he did at countless regattas on the Schuylkill River.

He and frequent adversary Dr. Larry Klecatsky teamed up in 1976 as heavyweights to represent the United States in the double sculls at the Montreal Olympics, placing 8th. In 1980 Bill was slated to be the single sculler at the Moscow Olympic Games that the US boycotted.

Domestically, he won dozens of national championships competing for the Undine Barge Club, the Fairmount Rowing Association, and the New York Athletic Club. He attended La Salle University and learned to row at the Upper Merion Boat Club where he would later coach the Upper Merion High School program for more than a decade.

Bill is a member of the National Rowing Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Bill was the son of World War II Veterans Ena and Bill Sr. As the oldest of eight siblings, he was often responsible for watching over his four brothers and three sisters at their childhood home in King of Prussia and in Western Massachusetts where he spent summers fishing with his grandfather and younger brothers.

A less than stellar student, Bill attended Bishop Kendrick High School, where on a spring day in 1965, he was given the option to sit in detention or attend a meeting of the newly formed crew team. He chose the latter, setting off an improbable rowing career that enabled him to compete around the world.

In high school, Bill met his soulmate Cathy Ruddell who he would continue to court while they attended different colleges. The long-distance relationship worked, and they married in June 1970 immediately after graduation.

After college, Bill started a career in banking at Provident National Bank, where he was able to work and simultaneously train on Boathouse Row. Bill spent more than 20 years with PNC, and later moved to Lancaster, PA taking a position as President and COO of Farmers First Bank, and later CEO of Susquehanna Bank. Bill finished his 40-year career in financial services in Investment Management at PNC.

During his time in central PA, Bill served on several nonprofit boards including: the Visiting Nurse Association, the Lititz Run Watershed Alliance, and the Lancaster General Hospital Foundation.

Bill and Cathy had two boys who Bill instilled a love of rowing and the water. Both would row for Bill at Upper Merion and continue their rowing endeavors in college. Bill also coached Little League Baseball and Soccer as the boys grew up in King of Prussia, and he never missed a track or cross-country meet the boys raced in. Weekends not focused on sports were dedicated to fishing: on the upper Schuylkill, the trout streams of central PA or the islands of Lake Michigan.

Bill and Cathy's love lasted almost 60 years, until Cathy passed in May of 2023. Cathy took amazing care of Bill in their later years as he slowly declined from dementia. His last years were tougher than any rowing race, and the family is sad but relieved that Bill has taken his final strokes and is with Cathy again.

The family will be organizing a celebration of Bill's amazing life at a future date when the Schuylkill River finally thaws, and everyone can get back out on the water.