When it was time to talk about a marker for Bill’s grave, his younger son said it should read: Husband, Father, Engineer, Servant, which was remarkably perceptive. His children remember him as always having exacting standards in everything he did and reminding them to always leave a place better than they found it. He was ever supportive of the interests and activities of his family—Boy Scouts (Troop Leader for two years), girls’ softball, football and track events, music programs, and family picnics at Juan Miller Campground in the White Mountains of Arizona on Sundays. And the needs of the community—Rotary Club (President for the Morenci, AZ, club), vestry member and substitute organist of his church, and he loved to brag about being instrumental in changing the ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans from 16 to 1 to 14 to 1 while serving as Chairman of the Republican Party for Greenlee County, Arizona.

After retirement to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, he served on the hospital’s foundation board, as well as a number of civic committees, and was dedicated to working to improve education in the state, yet still found time to putter in his greenhouse, raising tomatoes and marigolds for the garden. Toward the end of his life he continued to read the Wall Street Journal regularly and study the Bible, while holding Marcello, the three-legged Siamese cat, on his lap. He also always enjoyed a spirited conversation about any controversial issue. Somehow he never found time for golf, but did enjoy playing tennis, some cross-country skiing, and a bit of bridge.