Bill graduated from Culver Military Academy. After a year at Southern Methodist University he enlisted in the Marine Corp. He graduated from Hope College and was later employed as a student recruiter. After retirement he turned his love of the outdoors into a modest landscaping operation. He worked with Port Sheldon Township to maintain Kiowa Park, as well as many private properties.

Bill was fond of ballroom dancing and took an interest in many sports, especially the Hope College Men’s basketball team, and he counted its coach as one of his closest friends. He could be seen at all of the Hope College football games, and once the women’s basketball program was established, he supported the women as loyally and ardently as the men. Bill was also an avid golfer and spent several years coaching Hope College’s men’s golf team.