WILLIAM F POINDEXTER

1933 - 2019
William (Bill) F. Poindexter left this world to be with his Lord and Savior on November 22, 2019. He is survived by his niece, Lori Prophet (Carl), nephew, Jeffrey Steffen (Amy), brother-in-law Delbert (Marian) Steffen, and grand nieces, Corie, Kellie, Taylor and Bailey.

A man of extraordinary artistic ability, Bill had a distinguished career in graphic design, won numerous design awards, had been a member of the Society of Illustrators and the National Arts Club and sold many of his paintings through public and private exhibitions. His well-known work over his commercial career included a leading role in designing the "Big G" General Mills logo, the first health warning on cigarette packs and the bar code used on packaging -- all of which live on.

Bill was born September 12, 1933, to Fred and Ida Mae (Lester) Poindexter in Pueblo, Colorado. He attended Pueblo Central High School and graduated from Baylor University in Texas. After a series of graphic arts jobs in the late 1950s, he fulfilled his early ambition of making it to become a part of the sophisticated Manhattan design scene. He fit in immediately and at the height of the Madmen era of the early 1960s, Bill worked as senior designer at the storied design consultants Lippencott & Margulies. In 1966, he moved to International Paper as design director for packaging, where he worked for the next 20 years. He left International Paper to set up his own international packaging design consultancy and increasingly devote his time to his painting.

Both through his global client base and his extensive private international travels, Bill visited most of the exotic and developed areas of Asia, the South Pacific, Central and South America, Africa and western and eastern Europe collecting art for his private collection.

Bill was a long-time homeowner and summer resident of the beach community in Kismet New York, where he started an annual art crawl in which people roam from house to house to view artist's exhibits set up for the event in various homes around the community. He is fondly remembered there for hosting the Sunday night summer movie festivals for many years.

His Kismet home itself is considered a work of art in which Bill combined his creative design and woodworking skills to hand craft every detail of the interior and exterior. Well into his eighties he was still seen scaling the steep roof following storms to repair the lighthouse cupola and crane weather vane.

Bill was a member of Madison Avenue Baptist Church in Manhattan and attended St. Andrew by the Sea Church in Saltaire when he was in Kismet.

Bill loved being a New Yorker and it is fitting that most of his last day was a happy one spent in Christmassy New York doing holiday shopping and running errands, with those who were with him saying he was in good form with his trademark twinkle in his eye and full of witty chatter. He will be greatly missed by friends and family.