William “Bill” J. Healey— the former president and cofounder of the Viking Yacht Company in New Gretna, New Jersey—died from long-term complications of a stroke on August 14. He was 97.
Healey, who founded Viking with his late brother Robert T. Healey Sr. in 1964, built a boat manufacturing empire in the recreational marine industry. He relentlessly encouraged and supported legions of dedicated shipwrights who designed and manufactured luxury yachts.
“Healey was intense and feisty, but beneath that drive was a soft heart and a deep bond with others,” wrote the company in a statement. “He valued his team with unbounded enthusiasm and commitment, often reminding them that they did not work for Bill Healey but that they worked with Bill Healey.”
Healey lived by the mantra to build a better boat every day and demonstrated his respect for Viking employees by standing at the door every evening to wish them a good night. He cared for his Viking family, by creating a factory health department that provided free on-site medical care in addition to the company’s traditional health benefits.
One of four brothers, he was born in 1927 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Healey attended Camden Catholic High School and entered the U.S. Marine Corps, serving during the final years of World War II. After his honorable discharge from the armed forces, he earned a B.S. degree in political science from St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia in 1951.
Healey first worked for his father at P.J. Healey Structural Steel in Atco, New Jersey. Then, when local wooden boatbuilder Peterson-Viking failed, he founded Viking Yachts. The company was his life’s work. Under his leadership, he turned it into the world’s largest builder of luxury fiberglass sportfishing and cruising yachts.
Healey was swift to shift from wood to fiberglass construction and launched a Viking 40 Convertible in 1972. In time, Healey’s Viking Yacht Company grew into an 880,000-square-foot facility with multiple production lines capable of producing 100 yachts each year. He structured the company to be vertically integrated, so that nearly 90 percent of what goes into a Viking yacht was designed and manufactured in-house. According to Viking, that was done so the builder could focus on quality control and customer satisfaction. Today, Viking has manufacturing locations in New Gretna and Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, and multiple service and sales facilities in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Healey made significant contributions to the marine industry, helping to drive efforts to repeal the federal luxury tax on boats priced above $100,000 that took effect in 1991.
Healey received the Ernst & Young N.J. Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1998. He was inducted into the National Marine Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame in 2003, and the following year earned the Press of Atlantic City’s Bailey Award for community contributions. In 2024, he was inducted into the Marine Trades Association of N.J. Hall of Fame.
Although Healey retired in October 2013, turning the throttles over to his son Patrick who is now CEO and president, he maintained a daily presence at the New Gretna facility, “to the delight of old and new customers he would meet at the factory,” writes Viking Yachts.
Click here for the official obituary with visitation and Mass details.
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