William N. Yeomans

UPPER SADDLE RIVER - William N. Yeomans, 87, passed away peacefully on November 25. Bill was born in 1934 and was the fifth generation to live in Upper Saddle River. He attended the one-room school in Upper Saddle River and graduated from Ramsey High School. He received a BA in Psychology from Hamilton College in 1955 and an MBA from Cornell University in 1957, followed by six years in the U.S. Army Reserves.

Bill worked for JCPenney for 25 years in their corporate headquarters in NYC. Twelve of those years were spent as Director of Training and Development. He volunteered with Junior Achievement in New York and served as Chairman of their Operations Council in 1980. Bill was active with his professional organization, ASTD, the American Society of Training and Development headquartered in Washington DC, and served as its President from 1986-1988. When JCPenney moved its headquarters to Dallas, Bill chose not to go and started his own consulting firm, The Yeomans Group.

Bill was active in his hometown of Upper Saddle River, serving on the Library Board in the 1970s and was the first president of the Upper Saddle River Historical Society in 1977 and was still active on its board. He was on the Environmental Committee for 13 years and the Historic Preservation Commission. He was co-chair of USR’s Vision 20-20 Committee and served as the Town Historian for 20 years.  He was also a volunteer at The Valley Hospital.

Bill loved to write. He had eight business books published, including one that was a “business best seller”, 1000 Things You Never Learned in Business School. He wrote The Lore of Upper Saddle River, a history of the town, as well as numerous articles for the USR Historical Society Newsletter. He also wrote over 15 humorous columns for The Town Journal Newspaper in the 1980s.

Painting was a lifelong hobby for Bill, begun alongside his father when he was a boy. His watercolors were in several local shows and he is known in town for his painting “Once in Upper Saddle River” that depicts homes and businesses now gone.

Bill is survived by his wife of 52 years, Kay (nee Murphy), his brother David and his wife Sheila, his niece Sheryl Jordan and her husband Peter, and two grand-nieces, Edith and Anne Jordan.

Visitation will be held at Van Emburgh-Sneider-Pernice Funeral Home, 109 Darlington Avenue, Ramsey on Friday, December 3 from 3 to 7 p.m. A Funeral Service will be celebrated on Saturday, December 4 at 10 a.m. at the Old Stone Church in Upper Saddle River.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The USR Historical Society, 245 Lake Street, USR, NJ 07458 or The Valley Hospital Foundation, 223 North Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.