Bill, who lived in Anderson, California, died July 16, 2009. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943 and served in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Bill learned to fly on the G.I. Bill and received his pilot’s license in 1948. After working all phases of flying in the Siskiyou County town of Montague, he went to work for the Forest Service in 1961 as a pilot. Bill retired from the Forest Service in 1982 and dropped smokejumpers as a contract pilot until 1992.