William G Pearcy

I knew Bill as a colleague while I was a prof at OSU from 1984 until 2013. The key word that comes to my mind about Bill is "kindness." Bill interviewed me and helped me land a part-time position in Oceanography because I was splitting a position in Zoology when I first arrived at OSU. While he lived in Corvallis, we would play tennis on occasion (and he would always beat me). Bill ably led a group of us in submersible dives off the Oregon coast from 1987 to 1990 (see photo). We shared a...

I met Bill several years ago and knew right away that he was one of life's gems. He had watched a lecture I'd given about my research over Zoom and had asked Clare Reimers and Waldo Wakefield to invite me out to his farm with them for lunch. He was a treasure trove of information and stories, but he wanted to know about me and my stories. He really listened and was so encouraging and supportive. He showed me around his beautiful farm, asked me if I knew what the vine growing on his back porch...

Bill was one of my favorite people in the world. He was like an uncle to me, and I looked up to him in so many ways. I got to know Bill through his wonderful association with my dad, Mike Laurs, whom Bill advised while getting his PhD in Oceanography at OSU. Bill and my dad enjoyed a close relationship and they became life-long friends, spending many good times in the outdoors together-mostly fly fishing in the Pacific Northwest, as well as further around the world (Tasmania, New Zealand,...

I first met Bill as an oceanography MS student in his marine fishes course in 1968. As an extension of that course, a few classmates and I coerced Bill into offering a special topics course on marine mammals. That course was the spark for my life-long interest in cetacean biology, and a few years later I was back at OSU in the now School of Oceanography for a PhD with Bruce Mate. Bill served on my dissertation committee and was extremely helpful with his editing skills, convincing me that...