William "Bill" Keith McKim

William (“Bill”) Keith McKim passed away early the morning of October 6, 2025 at home in Fallbrook, California.

Bill was born in Raton, New Mexico on May 2, 1932 but was raised in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He said his greatest influence growing up was his maternal grandmother “Nanaw.” He attended Carlsbad High School where he started dating Bettye Jo Means during their sophomore year. After graduating, they eloped and were married in Las Cruces, New Mexico on August 14, 1950. It was a marriage that lasted over 75 years with four children, one unofficially adopted daughter, fourteen grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren.

Bill and Bettye moved to Albuquerque shortly after the birth of their second child so Bill could attend the University of New Mexico where he earned an engineering degree in 1957. During college he worked full time doing night shifts at Sandia Laboratories. After four years with very little sleep but with engineers in high demand, he received job offers in every state. Ultimately, he and Bettye settled on Southern California and they moved to Torrance in July 1957 with three children in tow.

Bill and Bettye lived on Cranbrook Street in Torrance for almost six years. During this time, they not only welcomed their fourth child but they formed bonds with several of their neighbors who became their most enduring friends. Bill’s passions for running, backpacking, lake fishing and UCLA basketball can be traced to the “Cranbook Crowd.”

In January of 1964, the McKims moved to Juniper Street in the Palo Del Amo neighborhood of Torrance. All four of their children were proud graduates of Hickory Elementary School and Torrance High School. Bill and Bettye were their children’s biggest fans spending countless hours sitting in school cafeterias, auditoriums, gyms and ballfields to watch musical performances, plays, drill team, cheerleading and ball games.

While working as an engineer in the aerospace industry in the early sixties, Bill began taking night classes to obtain a law degree. He gradually accumulated enough credits and received his Juris Doctorate in 1970 and, with aerospace work in decline, he studied for and passed the bar in 1972 and commenced a second career as a lawyer that same year. He eventually established his own law practice in Torrance in 1974 that he maintained until 1986 when he accepted an opportunity to rejoin TRW in a role that combined his engineering and legal skills.

In 1987, Bill and Bettye moved to Turin, Italy for a year where, to his delight and entertainment, Bill worked with Italian and German engineers. He and Bettye spent their weekends exploring the rest of Italy and neighboring countries in their Volkswagen Jetta that Bill relished driving very fast.

Upon returning from Europe, Bill and Bettye soon moved to Sun City (later a part of Menifee), California where they lived for thirty years. Bill did occasional legal work for other lawyers who needed temporary help before fully retiring in the mid-90s. In 2019, they moved to the Silvergate Retirement Community in Fallbrook.

While Bill’s working career was varied and interesting, he often said that if he had it all to do over again, he would have stuck with one of his first jobs as a surveyor in Carlsbad, New Mexico, because he loved being outdoors and remembered how nice it was to “not take work home” with him. It was his love for the outdoors that caused him to fall in love with backpacking. From the early 1980s until the mid-2000s, he spent winters poring over topographic maps of the east side of Yosemite Park planning his adventures for the following summer. Over the course of those adventures he came to know the east side of Yosemite as very, very few others did, exploring remote areas where it was typical for him to not see another person for four or five days. His son, his son’s friends (and their friends), grandchildren and friends were all privileged to have done trips into distant corners of Yosemite with Bill.

With the advent of grandchildren, Bill became affectionately known as “Paw Paw” and Bettye became known as “Grannye,” with the spellings of those names the product of Bill’s talent for language and clever wit. He loved once again sitting in school cafeterias, auditoriums, gyms and ballfields cheering on his grandchildren who he regularly described as “the best that ever was” at whatever it was they were doing.

Bill was an astute observer of national and world events, often penning “letters to the editor” to make a point about an event or phenomena. His most prescient letters appeared in the Los Angeles Times in the late 60s and early 70s describing a future where technology would facilitate communications in ways that would allow people to work where they wanted rather than wasting time commuting. After the 2008 Financial Crisis, he identified the largely overlooked pivotal role that Synthetic Collateral Debt Obligations played in precipitating the crisis. He described his insight in a book called “Trio of Realizations” that he made available on Amazon.

Bill McKim was, in many ways, a man of apparent contradictions to the casual observer. He never drank a drop of liquor but thoroughly enjoyed a good cocktail party where he could engage with interesting people on a wide range of topics. He was not spiritual but had a deep respect for those with faith and the important role the church plays in assuring that the most vulnerable are cared for and protected. Any personality profile would have classified him as an introvert but he loved striking up conversations with strangers. He believed strongly in the supreme importance of rational, dispassionate analysis but could be moved to unabashed tears by the opening scene of the Pixar movie “Up.”

Bill loved all his family as deeply as a person can love, but Bettye came first. He is survived by her, daughters Cheryl Bauer of Yukon, Oklahoma,  Karen Gebhard of Fallbrook, Danni Fieri of Fallbrook (and husband Dale), his son Brad McKim of Beulah, Wyoming (and wife Kay) and he and Bettye’s “unofficial” daughter, Kim Nagatani of Torrance. He is also survived by thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren as well as a sister-in-law (Norma) and brother-in-law (Oran) in Carlsbad. He was preceded in death by a sister (Janet) and, in 2024, by his granddaughter Brooke Annette Bauer. The rest of the family is thankful that the two family members (Paw Paw and Brooksie) who most enjoyed a good party are together to plan and scheme for our arrivals.

In accordance with Bill and Bettye’s wishes, a joint Celebration of Life with the family will take place at Sand Creek, Wyoming after Bettye joins Bill. In the meantime, in lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Bill McKim’s memory be made to the “Best Day Possible” Fund for Older Adult Palliative Care benefitting the University of Wyoming College of Nursing. Donations may be sent noting “Best Day Possible Fund” in the memo line to:

University of Wyoming Foundation

Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center

222 South 22nd Street

Laramie, Wyoming 82070

Or online at

https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/24954/donations/new?designation=bestdaypossiblefundforolderadultpalliativecare&