Charles "Bill" William Mitchell

The oldest child, he had two younger sisters, Edith and Hazel. While still a toddler, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where his father, a blacksmith, eventually found work building the iron cages at the Los Angeles Zoo. His father eventually became a foreman with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where, after high school, Bill also found work. Within 2 weeks of being hired, Bill got a call in the middle of the night to report to work earlier than usual. That night, the Saint Francis Dam in Ventura County broke, and Bill was one of the first to respond, helping to remove mud and debris.

As the Great Depression took hold, Bill was fortunate to continue to work for the Department of Water and Power, and in 1933, he married Jessie Doris Lovell. In 1938, their first son, Bill, was born.

During the second world war, Bill volunteered each weekend to drive a truck transporting fuel oil from LA to the California-Arizona border, returning home Sunday night, only to begin another 5-day work week.

Soon after the war, his second son, Bob, was born, and 21 months later, Tom was born. Within 6 months, the family moved from Los Angeles to Bishop, California, a small town at the base of the Eastern Sierras where Bill worked on the Owens Valley Viaduct to bring water to Southern California.

In the early 1950s, the family moved back to LA. Bill always had a passion for the outdoors, and he was soon able to fulfill one of his dreams – to buy a small house trailer so he and the family could visit state and national parks up and down the Pacific coast. Soon thereafter, he bought a small boat that he could tow behind the trailer. His sons soon learned to water ski, and he took every opportunity on the weekends to take the boat out to fish off the coast and in the many inland lakes.

In 1969, after 40 years with the Department of Water and Power, Bill was able to take early retirement at age 60. A few years later, he and Jessie moved to Lemon Wood Mobile Home Park in Ventura. They were to take a number of long vacations in their RV, visiting every region of the country and many parts of Canada and Mexico. After Jessie’s death in 1990, Bill eventually moved to the Bonaventure, where he enjoyed the companionship of many close friends for many years.

Bill is survived by his three sons, Bill, Bob, and Tom; daughter-in-law, Cookie; son-in-law, Tom Sandberg; grandchildren, Scott and his wife Ann Marie, Todd and his wife Joanne, Wendy and her husband Matt, Chad and his wife Christine, and Eric and his partner Kim; and his 10 great grandchildren.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, 3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura.