(August 23, 1940 – February 4, 2017)
“Wild Bill” (if you “really” knew him) - William Charles Sheehan, born in Syracuse, NY and then a resident of Norwich NY for his growing up years, then all over the nation for college, Army, university and work, work, work and then college and work and then retirement. Whew! Finally settling in Ft. Myers FL with his second love, Sandi Morrell, where he checked out at age 76 having left no stone unturned. Beloved dad, husband, partner, brother and friend to all. His parents were Bernard Beers and Pauline (House) Sheehan. He married Alice on July 1, 1972 and acquired a daughter, “chickadee” as a package deal. Three and one-half years later son Billy was born and became a fixture on Bill’s back (well actually in a Dudley Frasure Adirondack Packbasket) as Bill walked around town teaching young Bill about birds, trees, people and all things boyish/manish). Those two kids grew up and became Kristine Giebel (Ed) of Parker, CO and Billy (Jennifer) of Walworth, NY. Man, can they tell you some stories about Dad! “The moon don’t shine ‘til midnight”, “kookoobobalink”, “What’s the most important thing in your life?...your health, with it you can do anything!”
He spent time in the Army (Signal Corps) in Okinawa and also received an A.A.S. degree in Horticulture at SUNY – Morrisville, a B.S. degree in Political Science at East Texas State University and later in life an A.S. degree in Nursing from Florida State College. His work life included oil field worker in east TX, social worker, teacher, warehouse supervisor, news circulation manager, customer service manager, psych. nurse. And there’re probably a few that we don’t know about. He also was a true history buff. He loved airplanes and always wanted to get an ultralight. In retirement he built a log home in the mountains of Colorado. His sister, Kathy, always said we would say at his funeral: “Billy had a good life”. And he surely did. He rejoins his parents, his brother, Bud; his bro-in-law, Joe; cabin boys, Dick, Jim and Mike and many other friends who he counted on to share in some “special times” – many of which will go un-named in print (refer to relatives or friends for details). Bill has gone ahead of his kids and his grandkids, Lindsay, Jesse, Emma and freaking awesome Tanner (first grandson, gets this honor – sorry girls) as well as his sisters Jane Rolen (Stan); Kathy Coleman (Joe, who paved the way last Fall), Peggy Reed (Randy) and Mary Pat LaRose (Ray) as well as numerous nieces and nephews. His loving companion for the past 9 years Sandi Morrell, her family Kim(Nancy) Willow, Serena (Mike) McIntyre, grandchildren Dallas (Kristi) Perez, Lexi (Cam) Yerton, Alicia (Shane) Nelson, Kyle McIntyre, great grandson Randall and his fur babies Sally Ann and Abby. His special friends Bill Skidmore, Sue and Bob Deboer and Tom Lothridge. Bill loved spending time with his children and grandchildren when they were young and as they grew up - reading to them and teaching them important life lessons. He also enjoyed family vacations spent camping/exploring, cabin time (it’s always 8:10 or 8/10 there), as well as cable news, NASCAR, woodworking projects and other fun stuff. Bill enjoyed his life in Florida and especially his new friends and family. Randall "Jalapeño " was his joy and spent many hours holding him and playing with him. He was Randall's "Poppie" He and Sandi enjoyed working on projects together. It was a private joke that Sandi's "Honey do "project list had no end to it. We would like to thank Hope Hospice and Joanne's House for the care that they provided in his final days so that he could be at home with Sandi and the kids. His service will be at Sarasota National Cemetery, Sarasota, FL. where he will be buried February 20 @ 1:00pm. His headstone will be just as he always said it would be: “No Deposit, No Return”.
Arrangements are being made by Horizon Funeral Home, Fort Myers, FL. www.horizonfunerals.com. If so desired contributions can be made to: Hope Hospice, 27200 Imperial Parkway, Bonita Springs, FL 34135 in Bills memory.