William Reese
William Reese
William (Bill) Reese, loving husband, devoted father & proud grandfather passed away June 14, 2016 at Evergreen Hospice with congestive heart disease. His gentle but adventurous spirit and cheerful disposition will be missed. He grew up in Denver, graduated from East High in 1945. After a year in the Navy, he graduated from U of Colorado in 1951 where he was a member of ATO fraternity and school cheerleader.
After graduation he moved to Seattle to begin his 42 year career with Boeing as an electrical engineer, working on space and defense projects which included the B-52 bomber, Minuteman missile and the Bomarc (the first supersonic surface to air missile), and earned a Masters of Electrical Engineering degree from UW. He loved the area for its skiing and sailing, and continued his love of music, which started at age 3, by signing in choirs.
In 1959 he married his friend and loving wife, Caryl. On their honeymoon trip to Europe he purchased his dream car, a Porsche 356A. He settled in Bellevue and with his wife raised 3 children which were his pride and joy. He had a mind for details and liked to design and build things. Bill was a member of Bellevue First Presbyterian church serving on committees, deacon, choir member and Bible study fellowship group. He believed in exercising and began jogging which developed into a passion for biking that began with leading Boy Scout trips and grew to involve family and friends and culminated in a memorable family trip to Europe. Retired in 1993 but continued an active life building a cabin on Camano Island, managing an office building and especially traveling.
In his declining years, Bill was determined to conquer each setback and fought gallantly with courage. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Kathy, and survived by his sons, Mike and wife Margaret, David and wife Robin, his grandchildren Max, Ellie, Fairlie, Lacey Nathan, niece Cynthia and many caring relatives. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday July 9 at 2:00 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue. The family is grateful for the care and support from Hospice, Emerald Heights and First Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your charity of choice. Please share memories with the family at www.bartonfuneral.com.
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I just learned of the passing of “Mr. Reese”. I’m so sorry to hear of this. I’m fondly recalling all of the time I spent as a kid at the Reese household across the street. The first Husky football game I ever went to was with Mike and his dad and we sat in what were bleachers at the time at the end zone. A familiar scene on 28th street was Mr. Reese jogging home dripping in sweat. Years ago Jody Gaither and I both agreed that Mr. Reese was a trend setter when it came to jogging as we didn’t know anyone else during that time who was running for fitness. I’m also reminded of the fort he built in their back yard and how much fun we had playing there. My thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time. -Bill Irish