Longtime school photography executive William Edward “Bill” Strain, age 60, of Grand Rapids, formerly of Olive Branch, Miss., passed away unexpectedly at home on April 3, 2021. He earned an Associate’s Degree in Photography at the Hawkeye Institute in Waterloo, Iowa. He married Alice Diane Fensterman in Des Moines, on Sept. 18, 1980, and she survives. Strain put his education to work in the photography profession throughout his life. He was employed at a photography lab in Memphis, Tenn., prior to his move to Geskus Photography, which brought him to Grand Rapids, Mich. He served Geskus in Special Project Development, which required a broad set of skills to spearhead new projects and ventures such as investigating, developing and launching new product offerings and process improvements. Strain was often seen with his trademark hat and blazer with a U.S. flag lapel pin.
“Bill knew everyone in the industry, from conferences and from networking,” said Ed Geskus, Geskus Photography. “He was always looking forward to the future in production and printing operations. He was behind the development of our Blue Water Suite (a cloud-based volume photography workflow system).”