William Edwin Selby

1933 - 2019

BORN

1933

DIED

2019

FUNERAL HOME

Sunset Hills Funeral Home - Bellevue

1215 145th Place SE

Bellevue, Washington

William Selby Obituary

Name: Celebration of Life for William Edwin Selby
Start: 2019-04-14T20:00:00.000Z
Location: Sunset Hills Funeral Home - Bellevue

William Edwin Selby

William "Bill" Edwin Selby passed away on March 21, 2019 after living with Parkinson's Disease for 25 years.

Bill was born on November 1, 1933 to Robert and Kathryn Selby. He was the light of their lives and known for his bright, inquisitive nature.

While attending Clairton High School near Pittsburgh, his parents enjoyed watching their son as drum major of the marching band and encouraged his connection to gardening and woodworking.

Bill graduated with a BS in Horticulture from Pennsylvania State in 1955 and married high school sweetheart Mary Craig that spring. They welcomed their first two children Craig and Cathy back east before heading west to Bellevue in 1958. They were blessed with two more children Cheryl and Christopher to round out the "4 C's"

Bill was hired by the Boeing Company in 1958 and worked in both Aerospace and Commercial products before retiring as VP/GM of the Renton site in 1994.

In 1993 Bill married Margaret Harter. He and Marg spent the last quarter of his life enjoying their large family and circle of friends. Together they designed and built numerous beautiful homes and took many life-changing trips. The last years of Bill's life in Issaquah were made comfortable by the amazing staff at Timber Ridge for which we are most grateful.

Over the course of his amazing life journey Bill touched many people, both personally and professionally, while spending his leisure time either in the garden or in his beloved workshop.

Bill was predeceased by son Chris in 1993 and first wife Mary Selby in 2017.

He's survived by wife, Margaret Harter Selby, son, Craig Selby (Teresa) Lenore, Idaho, daughters Cathy Kruse Kirkland, WA and Cheryl Selby (Jeff Engle) Olympia, WA; step-sons Gordon Harter (Linda Kay), Duane Harter (Melanie); step-daughter Linda Mae Harter, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

There will be a celebration of life

held at 1:00 pm, Sunday, April 14

at Sunset Hills Funeral Home, 1215 - 145th Place SE

Bellevue, WA 98007.

In honor of Bill, please consider a donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest WA, www.swwabigs.org please note "STEAM Lab."

Or to the Parkinson's Research Department at Evergreen Hospital, www.evergreenhealthfoundation.com

Please sign Bill's online guestbook at www.Legacy.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Seattle Times on Apr. 7, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for William Selby

Sponsored by The Family.

6 Entries

Dr. Duane Baker

July 30, 2025

started work at Boeing at the exact same time. Kept tack of him for four years then I left to begin my Dental practice. A fun and great guy. We last hooked up by phone 10 years ago. Met at Lake Chelan once. He, Ron Block, Art Borgart ,
Frank Fulton, George Whitney and Bob Locke were the "gang" at Boeing. Bill
went a long ways at the company. RIP

Richard

April 16, 2022

I was a very young Boeing manager when my wife went into labor in the middle of the snowstorm of the century in February 1989. We made it to an all but deserted Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle where my poor wife began a long labor. A few hours in, Bill, then VP of our division, came walking into the otherwise empty waiting room. I couldn´t believe my luck, the opportunity to get face time with such an important guy. I went to introduce myself. He was such a nice man. Asked about my work and so on. It was a great introduction for a brand new manager to have.

A few years later, I was selected as part of a special program, to shadow Bill on the job for a day. What a great memory, one of the best days of my Boeing career. We sat in his office and talked. He had lost his son recently, whom I had worked on a project with, and his granddaughter was just a few hours older than my daughter, so we had those things to share about. It was comfortable and so relaxed. I couldn´t believe he took so much time to focus on just me.

Bill was one of the really rare people who understood all the technical things that came with running a big business but also possessed a deep emotional intelligence. I went home that day feeling very important thanks to him. A really superb individual and a great loss.

Laura C

April 23, 2019

I worked not far from Bill at the Renton plant in the early '90s when he was the VP of Renton Division. I was just a lowly engineer but I remember going into his office one day (without an appointment) to talk to him myself when one of his henchmen refused to pass along to him that I didn't want to provide the data he had requested. So, I went into his office in order to explain. He was incredibly welcoming and receptive and appreciative of the information that the data he wanted already existed in a different format and that it would save time to just use what we already had. I will never forget how willing he was to talk to someone several layers down in the organization without being the least bit high-and-mighty. I never felt more comfortable talking to a manager. He was a really good guy and well-respected by all.

Darrell Lowe

April 15, 2019

Remembered by the Timber Ridge Sawdusters. Thanks Bill for all you did for us.

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