William C. Hough, a retired vice president of American Bank Stationery Co. and an inventor, died Thursday at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury of pneumonia.
The Salisbury resident was 92.
At age 17, he began working for American Bank Stationery Co. He started in the office in Baltimore in 1927, became a salesman in New York, and worked his way up until he retired as a vice president in 1975.
"He said at one time he'd sold checks to all the banks on Long Island," said a son, Coles Terry Hough of Ocean City.
He was also an inventor who held several patents. "He was always tinkering in the basement with something," his son said.
He made a H-shaped wood holder for storing extension cords so they would not tangle and devised a clip to keep together plugs of two extension cords. He and a friend developed a liquid plastic coating that was used during World War II to protect the surface of airplanes during shipping overseas, his son said.
He also created a tool with a broomsticklike handle that had a perforated spatula at the end to allow people to pull shells from the sand more easily. The holes sifted the sand so users could more readily examine the shells, his son said.
Born in Raspeburg in Baltimore County, he was the youngest of six children and the last surviving. He graduated from high school locally and immediately went to work, spending much of his career in New York.
He was a longtime resident of East Williston, N.Y., where he was a member of the Community Church of East Williston. He held several positions at the church, including treasurer.
He moved from New York in 1991. He and his wife, the former Leona Woods, divided their time between homes in Ocean City and Stuart, Fla. They moved to Salisbury in June.
Known to friends as "Coby," he enjoyed deep sea fishing aboard his boat, the Bluewater.
He had two previous wives, the former Marjorie Kirtchenbauer, who died in 1943, and the former Katherine Lewis, who died in 1989.
Private services will be held tomorrow.
In addition to his wife of 12 years, survivors include a daughter, Sandra Stricker of Bishopville; another son, William C. Hough Jr. of Longmont, Colo.; one grandson; three granddaughters; and one great-grandson.
