William "Bill" Eugene Widen

He had head and neck cancer that could not be treated and he was not interested in going through cancer treatment again anyway. He was suffering pain in the form of headaches over the last few months (his pain meds would take the edge off). On the day he died he didn’t seem to have pain. He just said he was having a bad day. He was talking about Jesus and to tell everyone that he loves them. He told my Mom Lennie that he was going to go quick. This was a self fulfilling prophecy, because he did go quick with no pain. One moment he was sitting up interacting with our home-care nurse as she was leaving, then he smiled at my Mom and passed away as he laid back down.

He was a champion for organ, eye and tissue donation as an Ambassador for One Legacy Foundation and Donate Life. His Signatures Across America project helped raise awareness during drag racing events, USC hospital events and Donate Life Run Walk events. He would also bring his race car to car shows and any event that he could raise awareness to sign up as many people as he could to be donors. He was Donate Life Ambassador of the Year in 2014 and One Legacy Ambassador of the year in 2017. He received other prestigious awards as well.

Most importantly, he was a loving father, brother, husband, grandfather, great grandfather, cat dad, caring friend and all around beneficial member of society.

All of us will miss him dearly!

In loving memory,

Bill’s daughter Andrea