William Shevach Rubenstein

William Rubenstein was born in Elgin, Illinois, the son of Ian and Leah Young Rubenstein. After Lowrie School and Elgin High School, he attended the Eastman School of Music, earning a degree in music theory and composition, and Northwestern University, where he received a master’s degree in composition. He met his wife, the former Nancy Ordelheide, at Washington University, where both were working on Ph.D.s in music.

In 1966, the couple moved to Mobile, where Bill taught at the newly integrated University of South Alabama. He continued to compose and became interested in electronic music and computers. He returned to St. Louis, and on the basis of aptitude tests used then for hiring computer programmers, went to work with IBM as a systems analyst. Ten years later, he formed his own computer consulting business, developing software for Eurocard. His work took him to Brussels, Belgium, and other locations around the world; his family shared his travels with him as often as possible and he collected nearly as many friends as frequent flyer miles.

Bill built the family's house in St. Charles and constructed or renovated several other homes in the area. After MasterCard acquired Eurocard, he retired and developed an interest in woodturning, becoming a skilled craftsman, a distributor and inventor of high-grade lathes, and a respected member and local officer of the American Association of Woodturners. His other hobbies included traveling, reading, discovering new music, tracking down e-mail scammers and spammers, assisting the Post-Dispatch with its grammar, and railing against all things Trump.

Bill is survived by his wife of 51 years; daughter Jessica Rubenstein of Boston; daughter Eliza Rubenstein of Costa Mesa, CA, and her partner Dr. Julie Fischer; granddaughter Greta Rubenstein-Rankin; and a sister, Joy Sweet, of Sunnyvale, CA. A brother, Norman, preceded him in death.

Bill requested that there be no funeral service.