William A. Geppert Jr., 88, of Lafayette Hill, a decorated World War II veteran and former chairman of the board of Geppert Bros., a demolition firm in Colmar, died Friday, June 29, of cancer at his daughter's home in Wyndmoor.

Mr. Geppert's father, William Sr., established the demolition firm in 1925. After he died in 1953, the business was operated by Mr. Geppert and his three younger brothers.

Geppert Bros.' major projects included Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, Philadelphia Naval Hospital, and the Spectrum.

Mr. Geppert, described in The Inquirer in 1996 as "one of the pillars in the wrecking community," was a member of the General Building Contractors Association. He was a charter member of the National Association of Demolition Contractors and cowrote its safety manual. In 2001, he received the association's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Since his retirement in 2010, Geppert Bros. has been operated by his brother Richard.

Mr. Geppert grew up in Wyndmoor, graduated from La Salle College High School, and attended Spring Garden College and La Salle University.

He joined the Army in 1943. While setting up an outpost in northern France in August 1944, his unit came under fire. He was helping the wounded to safety when he was shot in a shoulder and a thigh. He was treated at a field hospital and then in England and Richmond, Va., before being transferred to Valley Forge General Hospital.

Mr. Geppert's femur had been shattered, and doctors wanted to amputate his leg, but his father refused to allow it, said his daughter, Annamarie Hellebusch.

After 44 months recuperating, with his leg in traction for much of the time, Mr. Geppert was released at his father's insistence. The elder Geppert had suffered several heart attacks and needed his son to help run the business.

Discharged in 1948 with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, Mr. Geppert immediately began operating heavy equipment on job sites. He endured numerous surgeries, walked with a pronounced limp, and had limited motion in a shoulder, his daughter said, but never complained. "He was resilient, outgoing, and generous," she said.

Mr. Geppert served on the Welfare Labor Board (now the Laborers District Council of the Metropolitan Area of Philadelphia and Vicinity) and was on the board of Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem.

In addition to his daughter and brother, he is survived by three sisters and two granddaughters. His wife, Anna Marie Blanche Geppert, died in 2000.

A Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 3, at St. Philip Neri Roman Catholic Church, 437 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill. Friends may
call from 9:30 a.m. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.

Donations may be made to Disabled American Veterans, Box 14301, Cincinnati, Ohio 45250.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Geppert family, as well as to all current and former Geppert employees.