William Doyle Cherry, a retired Westinghouse Electric Corp. senior engineer who was a streetcar and model rail fan, died Sunday of an extreme allergic reaction at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.
The Beltsville resident was 75.
Mr. Cherry was born in Baltimore and raised on Randall Street. He was a 1955 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned a degree in 1968 in mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University.
"He graduated from Poly late because he had been ill and missed a year of school," said his wife of 46 years, the former Nancy Thrasher.
He served in the Army with the 14th Armored Cavalry on the border of East and West Germany from 1958 to 1959.
Mr. Cherry began his Westinghouse career as a technician in 1957 and at the time of his retirement in 1997 was a senior research and development engineer.
He also held patents for radar devices, some of which are used in satellites, fighter jets and other aircraft, tanks and warships, family members said.
After he retired, he worked as a consultant to the U.S. Postal Service on high-speed sorting equipment.
A streetcar fan, Mr. Cherry was interested in the history and exploring the old right-of-way of the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway that operated in Frederick and Washington counties. He also was an N-gauge model railroader.
He also liked collecting vintage classic Chevrolet autos from the 1950s and had restored an old Frederick County cabin. He made his own wine, was interested in astronomy and politics, and was an avid reader.
He was a member of the Westinghouse Retirees Association, the 14th Armored Cavalry Association, Maryland Grape Growers Association and the Jefferson Ruritan Club, where he and his wife headed the Jefferson History Project.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Keeney & Basford Funeral Home, 106 E. Church St., Frederick.
Also surviving are a son, Christopher J.T. Cherry of Beltsville; a brother, Joseph R. Cherry of Linthicum; and several nieces and nephews.