William "Bill" Keller
November 7, 1952 - September 26, 2012
Obituary
William B. Keller Obitiuary
William Bryant Keller III, age 59, passed away on Wednesday, September 26, 2012. Bill was a loving husband of his wife of 36 years, Mary, father of Julia, and father-in-law of Isaac Wallick. He is also survived by his sisters, Jean Buennagel and MaryAnn Lilly, the in-laws of the Sullivan, Buennagel, and Lilly families, and many nieces and nephews who truly loved him.
Bill was educated at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC, and received his degree in engineering from The University of Notre Dame. He served as the Vice President of Provider Network Services at Premera Blue Cross. He enjoyed spending time with family and friends, cycling, kayaking, snorkeling, and hiking.
There will be a viewing on Friday, October 5, at 5:30pm at Bonney Watson Funeral Home on Broadway in Seattle, followed by prayer and vigil at 6:30pm. There will be a Mass of Remembrance on Saturday, October 6, at 11:00am at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Seattle. Donations can be sent to United Way or Catholic Relief Services.
Mary & Julia, we are so very sorry to hear about Bill. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
May God’s Peace, that passes all understanding, be with you and bring comfort.
Mary and Julie my thoughts and prayers are with you. Your loss is so great and Bill had such a positive impact on everyone he encountered.
I was one of the lucky ones that had the opportunity of working closely with him for the last 10 years. He always had a “hello” and a “smile” for all. There was never a day when we didn’t laugh or make jokes and he always made time to tell me some sweet story about either one or the both of you. He was so in love with his family and that was the thing that made him such a beautiful man. He made me want to do great job. I wanted him to be proud. He taught me so much. He coached me through difficult situations and he listened closely. I will miss him for an eternity but will never forget him. His impact on me has been too great and forever he will be the best “Boss”, colleague, teacher, coach and friend.
I hope you find comfort in knowing how much your Bill is loved and respected.
Bill will be greatly missed. He was a fantastic person, and everyone who knew Bill or came in contact with Bill came away a better person as a result. We loved his smile and his wonderful outlook on life. We are glad he had such a wonderful life, that he was blessed with such a great marriage of 36 years to Mary, and that he had such a beautiful daughter in Julie. We are so pleased that he was there to enjoy Julie’s wedding to Issac. He will always be in our thoughts! Love, Dick, Jackie, Sean and Christie Doyle
I enjoyed working with Bill and will miss him greatly. He was a kind and genuine person.
Mary,
I’m stunned. And sick. Bill was a bright light and true friend all through Not Dame. Not to mention at the reunions?
My heart and prayers are with you.
Tom
Mary,
We are so very sorry to hear about Bill. He was such a great person and we loved knowing him. Please know that you and Julie are in our thoughts and prayers. Love, Pat and Skip
Mary and family: I am truely saddened by the news of Bill’s death. We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet him at the Classs of 72 High School reunion this past year. Bill was so personable and seemed very comfortable amoung our classmates. I’m sorry that we did not have time to get to know him better. He appears to have been a wonderful man. I am deeply sorry for your loss. May God comfort you at this time…
FAITH knows that God has answers for questions that seem impossible.
HOPE holds onto the promise that no farewell is forever.
LOVE understands that it still hurts to say good-bye…
May God hold you in His arms and heal the sorrow that you feel.
Fred and I are so very sorry to hear of Bill’s passing. He had become a fimilar face to me in the neighborhood and at the Memorial Day get-togethers. He was part of what makes our little neighborhood such a great place to live, and definitely will be missed – Loveday & Fred Kleinschmidt
i am sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are for you and your family.
Julia, I am thinking of you daily. I know how precious a father is to their daughter. Hold on to the many wonderful memories you have had with your father as they will comfort you in your times of need.~Ramona
Tribute to William Bryant Keller, III in remembrance from the Kellers, Harold, Brenda, David and Brian.
To Mary, Julie, Jean, MaryAnn and all of the relatives.
Bill had a winning smile, a sparkle in his eyes, and a personality that made him a joy to be around. He genuinely cared about people, his family, his friends, and his coworkers. My uncle Bill had a nickname for me that Bill often repeated and that was “pipper” or sometimes “pipsqueak”. Those were names of endearment that lasted a lifetime. At family gatherings his presence would light up the room. Bill had a gift of aura about him that made us all better because we knew him. All of us were so proud of his graduation from the The University of Notre Dame with an engineering major and when he met his future wife Mary who graduated from nearby Saint Mary’s College.
I have fond memories of Bill and his family in my trips to the Washington, D.C. area. We shall all miss Bill but his spirit will live with us the rest of our lives. May our prayers comfort the family and remember the happy times we all had together.
Bible scripture John 14: 2. has special meaning for me because it was read at my father’s funeral and will be read at mine; “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you”.
In loving memory,
Harold Willard Keller, Jr. (Pipper) and family
My dear Mary,
My prayers and thoughts go out to you Mary, and your family in this time of sorrow.
I was glad to have meet Bill at our reunion here in Tulsa. I wish that I knew that he had gone to Notre Dame. We could have had a long conversation together. So here is to you Bill in my thoughts. GO IRISH !! May God be with you always.
Julia I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your father; a precious bond like no other. I keep you in my thoughts and prayers daily and wish you peace and comfort through your strong family, friends and faith.
When I think about calling him or walk past his office and think I wish I could share a quick joke – I realize I miss him and am saddened by his loss. When I realize others didn’t have the privilege of his friendship, I am grateful for having known him. When I realize how many lives he did touch and how fondly he is remembered by so many friends and colleagues; I am comforted that he remains with us.
Bill was a great man and we are honored to have known him as a true friend. You and your families are in our thoughts Mary and Julia.
John & Pai
I am so very sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are most definitely with you.
I am so very sorry for your loss. I had the pleasure of meeting Bill just this year, and I can say that he made a dramatic impact on me. The love he had for his family and his life was evident even in the first few minutes of meeting with him. I looked forward to the times to got to speak with Bill. He was beautiful sole. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Please accept my thoughts and prayers for the loss of your husband and father. It was great to meet up with Bill at the Gonzaga High School 40th year reunion and I was glad we could get together and share lives of some great times. The last time I saw Bill before that was a weekend trip to South Bend when I was attending DePaul in Chicago and he was at Nortre Dame, great weekend and a wonderful time. If I can be of any assistance please let me know . Bill was a great friend in high school I’m sorry we went able to keep in touch but glad we were able to meet up in this facebook agenda.
Mary,
My prayers are with you and your family during this most difficult time. I enjoyed meeting Bill at our school reunion, even if for just a short time.
May God’s light forever shine down upon you and give you peace.
Bill was one of the really great people in this world. It was a privilege and pleasure to work with him. He was always interested, engaged and concerned with the well being of the people around him. And over the past several days, I have heard a stream of stories from his team, his colleagues and associates around the country of how they touched their lives. My thoughts are with you Mary and Julia.
Billy, we hardly knew ye.
Dear Mary, Julia and Isaac
George and I are greatly saddened that Bill has passed away. We had such a wonderful time getting to know him and your family over the weekend. We remember his warmth and his smile, the memory of his wonderful words to Julia, the apple of his eye, and the looking forward to some very happy times together with Isaac and the love that he showed to his family and those around him. He was so happy and now he has left to be with the Lord. May he be received in our Lord’s open arms and may you find peace in His love.
Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Mary and Family,
Eli took this picture of Bill with classmates at our ND ’75 Class Reunion in 2005. We miss you, Bill, but we celebrate your fellowship with us and rejoice in your eternal presence above the Golden Dome!!!
I had the great privilege of working with Bill for the past 10 years. He was a great boss who genuinely cared about his employees — professionally and personally. When I told Bill that my sister was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, the first words out of his mouth whenever he would see me were “How is your sister doing?” and I knew that he asked because he genuinely cared. He told me that nothing was more important than family and you could see that he truly believed that in the way his face would light up anytime he talked about Mary or Julie. Bill was a truly wonderful person and will be greatly missed.
To Bill I say, thank you for being the type of boss I could share my true feelings with – I could give you a bad time, and you could give it right back! When I felt good about our accomplishments, you shared in my joy; when I needed your help or support, you were right there offering ideas and reaching out to your peers. When the day was particularly challenging or frustrating (and sometimes you contributed….) I could talk about it with you, get it off my chest, and move on. And you never had a shortage of good jokes! We’ll all miss you sharing the “quotes of the day” at HCDS management off-site meetings, and taking the lead in organizing the after meeting evaluation discussion! I’ll miss you for all these reasons and many more.
To Mary and Julia, I send my deepest sympathy for the loss of your husband and father. Not a day went by that he didn’t talk about you – he loved you deeply and held you as his number one priority in life – he was a great example for keeping perspective on what’s important in life! It was truly an honor and a privilege to know him.
Bill will be so missed. He was such a great man who truley cared about everyone that worked for him. To Mary and Julie take comfort in your memories, he loved you so much. He will be remembered by us all. May God bless you and comfort you with the peace that only he can give.
We are so saddened to hear the news of Bill’s passing. The world is truly a lesser place. We will always look back on our many years together at Our Lady of Mercy, especially the girl’s softball teams! Jennifer and I cannot be with you all to celebrate his life, but we are so thankful that Kyle will be representing the Hurt’s who will be keeping all of the Keller’s in our thoughts and prayers.
Fondly,
Dave, Jennifer and Kyle Hurt
Mary: We are so shocked and saddened to hear the sad news of Bill’s passing. He and I were classmates and friends at Gonzaga. Franca was a friend of his at Notre Dame. I stayed with Bill in his dorm back in the day when I came to visit. I looked forward to seeing him at the annual Gonzaga smokers when he was in town.
I’m sorry for your loss. May the Lord receive him with open arms.
I feel blessed to have worked for Bill the last 10 years and will forever miss our conversations. His compassion for people and love for his family has made an everlasting impression on me. He is one of the few men I have ever truly admired.
Joan and I were so sad to hear that Bill passed away. We are sure he is now in Heaven. It was and honor to know Bill and play softball with him for 15 years. Bill was a great man and a great player/coach. We have only happy memoriies of Bill’s energy, humor, and friendship. He is in our thoughts and prayers. May he rest in peace – Joan and Mike App.
There was never a day that I passed Bill in the hall that he didn’t smile and say “Hi Leanne!”. He was one of the few that was always in a great mood and brought a smile to everyone around him. Bill will be greatly missed to all those that knew him and I only wish that I had been able to work with him more.
I am overwhelmed by Bill’s passing. He was way more than a work colleague to me. He was a friend and a mentor, and a great listener. Family and personal relationships were so important to him, and he always had an update about Julie and Mary to share and inquired how my family was doing. And he genuinely cared. We watched Gonzaga lose to UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen together, and watched with glee as his beloved Zags thoroughly thrashed his beloved Irish last year. He leaves a hole in all of our lives, but we honor his memory and the impact he made on us all. “And let perpetual light shine upon him.”
When I received word about Bill’s passing while on vacation I could not believe it. Just a week before we had been having a good laugh about his lack of dance skills and how he needed to learn something other than the engineer shuffle for the wedding. No way was he gone.
Bill was kind, considerate, compassionate and so funny. I do not recall a day that I seen him when he didn’t have a huge smile on his face. Even in times of seriousness you could always count on Bill to sprinkle some humor or lightness on the situation. Bill genuinely cared about people. He always took the time to say hello, ask about you and your family and usually share something about his life with Mary, Julie and Isaac. I feel honored to have known him and will miss him terribly.
My deepest sympathy to Mary, Julie and Isaac. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4
I was so blessed to work with Bill for the past 11 years. He was truly a remarkable man…one of those people you just felt good being around. Bill had an infectious enthusiasm for everything he did. He loved life, his work and above all, his family – and it showed. He was so excited about Julie’s wedding and was so proud of her and his new son-in-law. It was fun to share his excitement about how his family was growing. It was a tremendous honor to know him and Bill will be greatly missed. We lift up your family in our prayers.
Words cannot express the loss that I feel about losing such a dear friend & boss. Bill was the best manager that I ever worked for. Bill always saw the best in me, & he always let me know that he was appreciative of the work that I did & encouraged me throughout my career at Premera. I was provided with many leadership opportunities under Bill & I am who I am today because of Bill’s confidence in me as a leader.
When I considered changing jobs, I never for once thought about moving out from under Bill’s umbrella. I applied for a Team Lead position & it was Bill who told me that I had the job over coffee. Bill was very excited about the change in position & starting singing “Moving on Up”.
I knew that Bill had “monk-like (TV series)” attributes & that he hated to see a picture hanging on a wall that wasn’t straight. Because of this monkish tendency, when I visited his office I would purposely move the pictures on his wall so they were crooked. If I walked by his office I would sneak in & move the pictures because I knew that he would spot it & would have to get up and straighten it. I told Bill recently that it was me playing this trick on him & he got a big kick out of it.
Bill was well liked, a caring person that when you were with him he made you feel as though you were the only person in the room. If you walked down the Premera hallways with Bill you knew that you would stop & talk with everyone that he knew. We would never arrive on time to our meetings because of him stopping & saying hi to everyone.
Working for Bill was an honor & privilege. I am truly sorry for your loss.
“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, & your hearts will rejoice, & no one will take your joy from you.” John 16:22
Mary,
Thinking of you! I’m so very glad that I had the opportunity to meet Bill and to see him again last April at the reunion. I hope to see you again soon too… Love you!
Mary and Julie –
We are heart broken with the news about Bill. We miss Bill and the two of you – I think of you every day as I pass your house on the way to work. Please know that we are thinking about you and praying for you.
-Kathy Norcross (and Rick, Cheryl, Diane and Erin)
I will miss Bill’s smile, encouragement and laugh! It was always great when he’d visit my office–just to check in to see how things were going with our team. He always cheered us on and had passion for making things great! We miss you Bill!
Our thoughts and prayers go to the Keller family.
There are a lot of great memories of Bill. He was a great person, a good friend, and a mentor to those who had the privilege to know him and work alongside him. He taught me a lot, and that part of him will live on in the lives of those he touched. He truly leaves the world a better place than he found it. Our prayers are with you, Mary and Julie. May God carry you and bless you in the days ahead.
Mary and Julie: we were all devastated by Bill’s tragic passing. I had the pleasure of working with Bill from his first week at the company. What a wonderful man. He was smart, warm, funny, and hard-working. And I can tell you that there is not a team at the company that loved and admired their leader more than did Bill’s team. I will always have great memories of my time with Bill and his grace and generosity of spirit.
God bless you and comfort you.
We were shocked to hear of Bill’s passing. He was the kindest of men and he will truly be missed. Although it has been so many years that we were together, we have so many fond memories of our Mercy days, especially our girl’s softball experiences. Our thoughts are with you Mary and Julie and you remain in our daily prayers.
Fondly,
Vince, Jaenne, Theresa, Vincent and Francesca Vaghi
I had the pleasure of befriending Bill when we were freshman at Gonzaga High School, and we have been friends since 1968. We studied and partied together. Peggy and I so looked forward to seeing him at our high school reunions in D.C. every five years and he always won the prize for coming the longest way. I am so pleased to have seen him last September (2011) for our 40th, but deeply saddened in knowing now it was the last time.
Peggy and I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Mary, daughter Julia, and all his family!
Mary, Julia, Isaac, Jean and MaryAnn:
I am deeply saddened to learn of Bill’s passing. As Gonzaga classmates, we shared many classes and enjoyed countless experiences. Bill’s enthusiasm and love of the Gonzaga spirit has always been special. At our 40th reunion last Fall, it seemed like not a day had passed since graduation. And, he wanted so much to share stories about his wife, Mary, and his daughter, Julia. He was a fortunate man. My lasting memory of Bill was that he was very thoughtful and giving. A stellar student, Bill took time with fellow students to bring the whole class up to speed. I will miss Bill, and will cherish those memories. He truly made the world a better place.
Sincerely,
Chris Foley
Mary and family –
I met Bill at Gonzaga High School and became fast friends with him. He was always a gentlemen and a good friend. Over the years we lost touch but I recently saw him at the last Gonzaga reunion. He was the same person I knew years ago – a great feat. He had that electric smile, was always upbeat and made it seem like no time had passed since we last spent time together many years ago. My deepest sympathies.
Bill Geissenahiner
Mary
I learned only recently of Bill’s passing, and though we had not been in touch for a long time, it saddened me very much. Bill is recognizable as my old friend from college from his photograph, but even more so from the lovely remembrances written here. Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, and memories of what a wonderful person Bill was will endure.
Dear Mary and Julie:
We are so sorry to hear about your loss. Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.
So sorry Bill and family. From being freshmen hallmates at Breen-Phillips, we stayed friends after women were admitted to ND in 1973, BP became a women’s dormitory, and a lottery distibuted us to other dorms. You organized the car trip we took (I met you in Washington, and from your house we drove all night) to the 1974 Sugar Bowl where Notre Dame won vs. Alabama for the National Championship. The 1000 end zone seats ND had were really the best to see ND win with the field goal by Bob Thomas who had the next room to us at BP.
Very sad to hear of Bill’s passing. My condolences to his family. I was his high school diving coach.
I was so very sorry to recently learn of Bill’s passing. I worked with him for several years at Premera and always enjoyed our interactions. He was so pleasant and easy going. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Today’s internet-able to look up folks from your past and the results are not always good.. I was the little kid next door neighbor ~7 years younger that Billy. His entire family treated me real well-great people. Playing hoops in his backyard, ,climbing his Oak tree, treats from his parents. Though I was too young to take proper care of them I still have your old baseball card collection you gave me Billie. Sad news