South Hampton - William Courtney, of South Hampton, N.H., passed away peacefully at Anna Jaques Hospital on June 18, 2022.

Born in London, England, on June 15, 1929, Bill was the adopted son of the late Paul Graham Courtney and wife Dorothy (Morgan), of Boston. He was the beloved husband of Cornelia (Powers) for 55 years.

Bill felt lucky for the life he had, remaining active, healthy and independent for virtually all of his 93 years. He lived a full and fascinating life, and made lifelong friends every step of the way.

Bill's story began in London, England, on June 15, 1929, when he was born with the name Richard to Maude Frances Holmes, with no father listed on his birth certificate. Genealogical research showed his mother was 44, and the father was a younger man named Charles Taylor. Bill was put up for adoption and at 6 months old travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to Ellis Island and into the loving care of Dorothy and Paul, a successful Boston investment banker. He proudly maintained his dual British-American citizenship all his life.

Bill was schooled at Dexter, Brooks and Harvard, where he rowed crew and was a member of the A.D. Club. After Harvard, Bill joined the Marines and rose to the rank of Sergeant while serving domestically on a warship during the Korean War. In his professional life, he would go on to own the Tennis Shop of Newburyport in the 1970s and worked in advertising, real estate and sales.

But his passions were always in the outdoors, whether he was sailing the Caribbean, riding hunt at Myopia, wrangling horses on movie sets like "The Crucible," or skiing the White Mountains as a longtime member of the Ski Club Hochebirge in Franconia.

Bill married Cornelia in 1967 and they bought a home on Point Shore in Amesbury, where they had two sons. But he wanted his boys to enjoy the outdoors as he did, so in 1976 he moved his family a few miles away to the woods of South Hampton on the shore the Powow River, where he spent the next 46 years before moving to Nichols Village in Groveland, Mass., in 2022.

For much of the last chapter of Bill's life, he served as the primary caregiver for Cornelia as she battled the gradual onset of dementia. For many years they became well-known on the Amesbury restaurant scene, especially Bill's favorites, Crave and the Morning Buzz. The people of Amesbury and South Hampton always looked out for them.

Bill was not religious, but he believed strongly in the values of kindness, honor and respect. Whether he met you in the halls of Harvard or on the quiet streets of South Hampton, he treated everyone the same way. And despite the grandeur of his youth, Bill showed us all that the best things in life are more simple: family, the company of friends, a rare steak and a Gordon's gin martini.

Bill's wishes are to have his ashes buried in the South Hampton Cemetery as part of a celebration of life to be held in the near future. He is survived by his wife, Cornelia, of South Hampton, N.H.; son, William Morgan and wife Amy (Woolwich), and their daughter, Caroline, of Amesbury; and son Graham Everett and wife Renata Horakova of South Hampton, N.H. He was predeceased by his parents, and his brother Peter and wife Elizabeth. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the South Hampton Public Library, Hilldale Ave., South Hampton, N.H., 03827.