William Connett Boteler (October 4,1932-October 13,1998) was the only child born to physician, George McCrary Boteler, MD and interior designer, Lucile Connett Boteler. He spent his childhood in St. Joseph where he went to school until his sophomore year in high school. At that time Bill became a student and graduated from Pembroke Country Day School in Kansas City. Bill was on the trajectory to become a doctor, having been born into a family where it had been a tradition for generations. His father had been a surgeon in WW1, and in charge of a hospital in France. His grandfather, Dr. William Clarence Boteler, was an “Optholist” who not only treated eye disease and fabricated eyeglasses but also was a pioneer of cataract surgery in his day. In fact, Dr. Boteler made Teddy Roosevelt’s iconic spectacles. Bill spent his freshman year of college at Tulane University in New Orleans to study medicine. During that time he got to know his favorite uncle, Leonard Connett who lived in Metarie, a suburb of New Orleans. Leonard was an engineer and inventor and had a profound influence on his nephew. Bill reliized that he didn’t want to become a doctor but to go to engineering school instead.
Bill was enrolled in MIT in Cambridge, MA. the same year his mother purchased and began restoring the McCallister House at 105 North 19th Street in St. Joseph. She recruited her sons help on weekends by appealing to his passion for flying airplanes. He enrolled at the University of Missouri in Columbia instead of MIT and flew back and forth to St. Joseph in a biplane Lucile bought for him. In fact that’s how he met his future wife- giving Charla Molinare from Houston, Texas flying lessons.
Bill graduated at the top of his class in Engineering school and ended up starting a family with Charla in Kansas City. They had two children: William Boteler Jr. and Alison Molinare Boteler. While at Puritan Bennett, he designed hospital oxygen equipment. One of his breakthrough, life-saving inventions was a respirator that would give humidity into the otherwise dry, dehydrating oxygen supply. He also designed the drop down oxygen masks for commercial airlines and portable respirators for first responders.
In 1974, Bill left Kansas City for the east coast and settled on Long Island in New York. He switched industries as well, from mechanical to electrical engineering. He became Vice President of engineering for the electrical manufacturer, Slater Electric. There he designed one of the first GFI’s “ground fault interrupters”. These new electrical outlets saved lives by preventing fires. They have since become a required feature in building codes today. He later joined a new company, Harvey Hubbell in CT. At the same time he was on the board of NEMA (National Association of Electrical Manufacturers) in Washington DC to help determine US safety codes and standards. At the time of his death in 1998, he had 17 patents to his name and traveled the world representing Hubbell as a well known expert in the industry.
