William Gordon O’Neill, known as Bill by his friends and family, was born November 19, 1926 in Richmond Ca. His father, Milton O’Neill, was the grandson of Isabel Castro (Pt. Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond is named for her). Sadly, his mother, Vivian Vogel O’Neill, died when he was 8 months old. At the invitation of the Vogel Family, his father took Billy and his 20 month old brother, Gene, to St. Louis, Mo. Milton became a traveling salesman and left the boys in the care of Vivian’s sister and mother.
On one of his sales trips, Milton met and married a woman 13 years his senior. Bill and his brother were returned to Milton, which was a surprise to his new wife. They moved frequently for work, which Milton was lucky to find due to the Great Depression. Indiana, North Carolina and eventually Alton, Illinois became their home. It was not a happy time. After Gene left home to join the Army Air Corp, Bill took a bus to Richmond to work in the Kaiser Shipyards. It was 1943 and he was 16 years old. He continued high school in Berkeley and was given his diploma early when he enlisted in the Army. Unable to follow Gene into the Air Corp due to his color blindness, he joined the Signal Corp and was deployed to Pacific Theater Operations. He served for 2 years.
After his discharge, he used the GI bill to continue his studies at Marin Jr. College and UC Berkeley. Always looking for cheap housing, Bill lived above a mortuary, answering the phone at night and helping to pick up bodies. In 1948 he moved to the bachelor barracks at San Quentin and worked as a guard in the evenings. He re-enlisted in the Army Officer’s Training program in 1949.
The Army was gearing up for the war in Korea. Instead of Korea, however, Bill was stationed in Germany to assist with guarding/transferring war criminals. Bill thinks his uncle, Ed Underriner, used his influence as Betsy Truman’s secret service agent to keep him out of Korea. More likely it was his experience at San Quentin. Whatever the reason, he enjoyed his time in Europe traveling for both work and pleasure in his Chevy convertible and “hanging out with the Legal Eagles in Nuremberg”.
In 1950, while on leave in St. Louis visiting his brother Gene and Gene’s bride Jane Prigmore, he was introduced to Jane’s friend, Jeanne Compton. Three months later he and Jeanne were married and he transferred into the Army Reserves. He was honorably discharged in 1954.
Bill was a born salesman due to his good looks and upbeat personality. In 1956, he moved his young wife and two little girls, Kit and Betsy, from St. Louis to Springfield, Mo. He opened a children’s shoe store where he charmed the mothers of Springfield and subsequently expanded the business. Unfortunately (or fortunately- which is how Bill always saw things), a few poor business decisions caused his stores to fail and in 1972 he, Jeanne and his 12 year old son, Tony, moved to Oceanside, Ca. where Jeanne had a cousin the family had visited several times.
Bill loved living in southern California and continued to work as a salesman- insurance, retail appliances, real-estate, etc. Jeanne died in 1993 and after two years of grieving, Bill met Juanita Lightner. They met while he was visiting mutual friends in Springfield and married her after a whirlwind romance. They spent the majority of their married life in Tucson. They would remain married until she passed due to COVID on February 18, 2021 which was their 25th wedding anniversary. (Bill would pass 3 years later on February 18th also.)
In October of 2019, Bill fell, fracturing his left hip and arm. He never really recovered from that fall and spent the last few years of his life in nursing facilities - first in Tucson, Az and then, after Juanita died, in Encinitas, Ca. Although his mobility was impaired, his spirit was never dampened. He enjoyed the attention from staff members, loved the meals (that were brought right to his bed!!!), got joy from family phone calls and visits (especially when the great grandkids came by) and last, but not least, Turner Classic Movies.
On February 18, 2024 Bill passed away comfortably at Encinitas Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
The staff treated him with love and respect through it all.
Bill was preceded in death by his first wife, Jeanne Compton, second wife Juanita Mae Moses, son, William Anthony (Tony) O’Neill, brother, Gene O’Neill and sister-in-law, Jane Prigmore.
He was survived by his daughter Catherine (Kit) O’Neill-Conover (Bob), daughter Elizabeth (Betsy) Courtney, and step daughter Julia (Julee) Lightner Dodd (Charlie). He also leaves behind grandsons Scott Courtney, Craig Courtney, Bryan Conover, granddaughters Molly McCrackin, Kristin Conner, Lindsay Jones, step grandson Andy Dodd plus all his beloved great grandchildren.
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