Bill, as most knew him, was born in Rosebud, Mt. on July 29th, 1911. He spent his youth and attended school there in the little town along the Yellowstone, graduating in 1929. He worked a year on ranches and farms in the valley, waiting for his younger brother Jack to graduate; then they both enlisted in the Navy. Both easily adapted to the service and made a career of it. In 1940, he married his high school sweetheart, Winnifred Septima Jaastad, and she waited for him in Norfolk, Virginia, as he served first with the Sixth Fleet in the South Pacific theatre in the Philippines; then, as the war escalated, with the' USN Anti-submarine Command stationed at Belem, Brazil, in the Atlantic,… where the U-boats were creating havoc with the Atlantic Convoys to embattled Europe. His air group was instrumental in the sinking of several of the German raiders, with the loss of some of their own planes. It was there that he was promoted to officer status. It was there, too, that he became the 6th* Fleet's light heavyweight champion, knocking his opponent, the former champ, out in six rounds. Later, he served aboard a ship in the evacuation of North Korea's civilian populace escaping from the Communists who had taken over the country. This preceded the Korean Conflict. Years later, when the Communists overran North Vietnam, the U.S. Navy helped evacuate the civilian populace who were escaping from the brutal takeover. After World War II, he was sent to bases in the Marianas Islands, Tennessee, Washington, Oregon, Florida and Alaska. His growing family followed him. In 1955, he retired from the Navy, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He returned with his family to Montana, where his heart had always been. Restless, he sought employment and found it working for the prison system in Deer Lodge, Montana. As captain of the guard, he was taken hostage by the prisoners when they rioted, but not until he had thrown the cell block keys into the street to keep them from the rioters. Furious, the prisoners threatened his and the lives of the other hostages with death by fire if their needs were not met. After a tense interlude the National Guard took the prison back using rocket fire' to blast their way inside and rescue the men who had been taken hostage. He purchased a small acreage that included the distinctive two story, brick house. There, he and his family lived during his last fifty years. .