William Andrew Harvill

WILLIAM ANDREW HARVILL passed away peacefully at his home in the presence of his family on October 28, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Anita MacLellan Harvill, his son Andrew and husband Mark, daughter Andrea and her children Adelynn, Ava and Anderson Butler. He was pre-deceased in death by his parents Gilbert Ambrose Harvill, Jr. and Carolyn Biggers Harvill. He was born on September 8, 1946, in Atlanta and grew up in Decatur, Georgia until he was 10 when he moved to Tucker, Georgia. While attending Tucker High School he played football as Captain of the State Class A Champion runner up in 1963. He was also Captain of the wrestling team his senior year.

Following graduation from Tucker High he entered Georgia Institute of Technology where he majored in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the GT Wrestling team which won the 1966 SIWA championship. In addition to placing first in his weight class in 1966, he also won the 1967 Southern AAU title at 167 pounds and was team Captain his senior year.

Upon graduation he joined North American Rockwell Launch Operations at Cape Kennedy and was on the launch team for the Apollo 8, 9, 10 & 11 missions. In September 1969 he accepted a position at The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) as a Packaging Engineer and was responsible for bottle, can and fountain packaging design. In this capacity he was instrumental in developing and commercializing the Bag-in-Box package for use with Fountain syrup products. In this regard, he invented and holds several patents for this packaging system which during the 1980’s became the industry standard and still holds that position today. During his 33+ year career with TCCC he held numerous other positions including; Brand Manager – The Wine Spectrum, Manager Fountain Division- South Pacific, Operations Manager – Coca-Cola Fountain, V. P. Coca-Cola Refreshment Systems and V.P. Worldwide Operations- The McDonald’s Group.

Andy loved to travel and participate in adventurous activities. Between his work related and personal travel he had visited over 50 countries. Anita and Andy were also fortunate to have attended 4 Olympics games where they participated as hosts for TCCC. Among Andy’s many accomplishments were over 100 SCUBA dives around the world including dives in Australia, Thailand and the Caribbean. He also made 4 solo skydives, did bungee jumping in Australia, whitewater rafting ((e.g. on the big three rivers east of the Mississippi (Chattooga, Gauley and Ocoee) and two week long trips through the Grand Canyon )), as well as hot air ballooning in Australia, Switzerland, and South Africa. Anita and Andy also did two week long Safaris in South Africa.

Andy retired in 2003. He and Anita moved to Western North Carolina where they could enjoy the beauty of nature and the Appalachian Mountains. In retirement he became active in numerous community organizations. The public groups included Chairman of the Transylvania Regional Hospital Foundation, where he also was director of the annual Golf Tournament fund raiser for six years. He later joined the Transylvania Endowment Board where he started and directed the Transylvania Cup Croquet Tournament which became the Foundation's primary fund raiser. In addition to these public organizations, he was a founding Board member of the Burlingame POA Board, and later joined and became President of the Burlingame Country Club. When he wasn’t doing volunteer work his interests and favorite pastimes included Georgia Tech sports, golf, trout fishing, woodworking and spending time with his family, grandchildren and his dogs.

The family will hold a private funeral at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Georgia Tech Foundation.