William H. Sardo Jr., 95, founder and president of the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association, died of congestive
heart failure Dec. 26 at Manor Care in Potomac. Mr. Sardo, a native Washingtonian, graduated from Gonzaga College High
School and Georgetown University. He worked for the National Wooden Box Association in Washington until World War II and
then served in the Navy as an artillery instructor and logistics commander in California. He served in the Navy Reserve for 23
years after the war, retiring as a lieutenant commander.
Mr. Sardo went back to work at the box association until 1953, when he formed the National Wooden Pallet and Container
Association, where he worked until his retirement in 1979. He was a Bethesda resident for more than 70 years.
He was a member of Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, and until he became ill, he enjoyed world travel. For the past four
years, one of his granddaughters, Jeannette Rubacky, was his caretaker.
His first wife, Jeannette Jarrin Sardo, died in 1980. A son, William H. Sardo III, died in 1938, and a daughter, Teresa Sardo, died
in 2005.
Survivors include his wife of 26 years, Evelyn Comella Sardo of Bethesda; three stepchildren; 12 grandchildren; and 12
great-grandchildren.
Patricia Sullivan