Bill was born January 20, 1938, in Missoula, Montana, and was raised in Orchard Homes, graduated from Missoula Country H.S. and the University of Montana. He was a pilot in the Army in Vietnam and retired as a colonel.

He was a bush pilot while living in Alaska. Later employed as a Commercial airline pilot with Continental and Alaska Airlines, was a long-haul trucker to Prudhoe bay, AK, even flew a load of musk ox to Siberia. In addition, he taught aviation at Missoula technical college. Later in life, Bill co-owned an Aviation company in Missoula, Montana that serves the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management with Smokejumper firefighting efforts in Montana and Western states. He passed away on October 27, 2021.