He fought a tough fight and never, never gave up! Bill was born in Huntington, West Virginia in 1941 to Bill and Loretta Williamson and moved with his family to South Bend, Indiana when he was twelve. He graduated from John Adams High School and attended Purdue University where he graduated in 1963 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He served in the Army for two years where he was stationed at the Pentagon.

In 1965 Bill moved to California where he worked at Hughes Aircraft for six years. During this time he attended University of Southern California and received a degree of Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. Bill was an extremely hard worker and throughout the years was involved in many small engineering companies. He always liked the freedom that a small company offered and was an amazing creative person both at work and in his personal life. He loved designing and building... spending many weekends and nights working in the garage. At one time he even designed and did the majority of the construction of a complete second story addition to his first home.

His creativity also was apparent when he worked many hours in his yard and gardens. He passed on many of these skills to his children! Bill loved spending time with his family. He loved the outdoors, and there were many family ski trips, sailing trips, hiking trips, fishing trips, and camping trips. In the most recent years he spent time every summer with his children and grandchildren at Lake Tahoe. We all have fond memories of these wonderful times together.

Bill is survived by his best friend, "partner" and wife, Suzanne and his blended family of five children, Peter (Bien), Tom (Kathleen), Nicole (Rodney), Bill (Kate) and Christine (Craig). In addition he will always be remembered as Grandpa Bill by Jordan, Taylor, Bailey, Max, Keely, Calvin, Savannah, Grace, Remi, Jack, Audrey and TJ. He is also survived by his sister Barbara Forsythe of South Bend, Indiana.

A memorial service is planned for Monday, October 18 at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Thousand Oaks.

Published in Ventura County Star from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19, 2010.

02/04/2021 DEC