William M. Staley, a retired Baltimore police officer and a Navy veteran, died Thursday of dementia at Somerford Place, a Columbia assisted-living facility.
He was 80.
The son of a steelworker and a homemaker, Mr. Staley was born in McKees Rocks, Pa., and was raised in Dundalk.
After he graduated in 1951 from Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington, he served in the Navy as a boatswain's mate from 1951 to 1955.
He was appointed to the Baltimore Police Department in 1959 and began his career in the Western District. He later was a member of the tactical squad and was promoted to sergeant in 1973.
Mr. Staley attained the rank of lieutenant in 1980 and at his 1992 retirement, he was assigned to women's detention at police headquarters in downtown Baltimore.
He received a departmental citation in 1965 when he and his partner, Richard Catania, rescued a child from a burning house.
In 1976, he earned an associate's degree from Catonsville Community College.
The longtime Lansdowne resident, who had lived in Westminster for the past 15 years, enjoyed listening to classical music and "was particularly fond of marches," said his wife of 54 years, the former Dorothy Prager.
He was an avid flower and vegetable gardener and liked traveling to London and Ireland. He was a longtime University of Notre Dame football fan. He also liked to dance and do jigsaw puzzles.
He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and St. John Roman Catholic Church, 43 Monroe St., Westminster, where a Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Staley is survived by a son, Larry M. Staley of Westminster; a daughter, Michelle M. Nickey of Westminster; a brother, John Staley of Ocean City; three grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
