Celebrating the life of William "Bill" Robert Stinson
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Obituary for William "Bill" Robert Stinson
William Robert “Bill” Stinson, 79, died at home with his devoted wife, Margaret and family at his side in Gold Beach, Oregon. Bill is survived by his wife Margaret; daughter Colleen (husband Rudy); son William Kevin Stinson (wife Leisha); his sister Barbara Novotny (husband Con); niece Diane Novotny, four grandchildren, two great grandchildren, stepdaughter Janet Wald, five stepsons: Paul Anderson (wife Kathy), Wayne Anderson (wife Taylor), Tom Anderson (wife Molly), Dave Anderson (wife Debbie), and Robert Anderson (wife Anne). Bill was born on December 2, 1932 in San Leandro, California and went to school in Oakland. His family moved to Tulelake, California during his middle school years and he became quite the outdoorsman. He often told us of the bird hunting mecca it was up there and even his early morning hunting outings before school. He and seven other young men reported to serve their country in the Korean War the day after they graduated from Tulelake High in 1951. Following the war, Bill moved to Santa Monica and married Judith Pinaire (Stinson) whom he met at Douglas Aircraft. They relocated to Garden Grove in 1962 where their children, Colleen and Kevin, were raised. Bill worked 30 years as a scheduler in the engineering departments at North American Aviation (prior to being acquired by Rockwell International and Boeing) on the Apollo, B-1, Space Shuttle and SDI programs. Bill was very active in youth sports, coaching Little League baseball, basketball, football and served as the President of the West Garden Grove Pony-Colt baseball league for two years. He also exposed the family (and friends of the kids) to the great outdoors (backpacking and fishing) in the high Sierras with as many trips as the busy schedules allowed. While he worked on high tech state-of-the-art programs during his career - he always had a soft spot for the round engines and spent many years volunteering at the Chino Air Museum. As an avid reader and historian of the WWII era – the museum work allowed him to have some thrilling rides in WWII aircraft. Bill and Margaret (high School Sweethearts) reconnected at their (Tulelake) 50th high school reunion and decided to get married in 2005. They’ve spent the last seven years laughing and loving like kids. Loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend, we are richer for knowing him and left poorer by his passing.
