William Winfield Holcomb

1948 - 2018

May 10, 1948 - April 17, 2018 William Winfield Holcomb was a lawyer, dancer, outdoorsman, and twenty-four year cancer survivor. He died on Tax Day, April 17, 2018, in Los Angeles, CA. He is greatly loved and missed by his wife, Deborah, his daughters, Jesse and Savannah, his sister, Terri, his brother, Robert, and his many cousins and friends. Bill was a fourth generation Californian whose ancestors helped settle the state in the 1800s. Holcomb Creek and Holcomb Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains are named after his great-great-grandfather, who found gold there in 1860 and started the largest gold rush in the Southern California region. His father, W.R. ("Bob") Holcomb, was the Mayor of San Bernardino for 18 years. Bill graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Geography in 1969. After studying for a year at Juilliard in New York City, he joined The Acme Dance Company, touring and performing with them for six years before realizing that he could put his creativity to greater service as a lawyer. He co-authored the seminal artist's tax manual, "Fear of Filing." He received a JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School in 1980 and an LLM, advanced tax degree, from NYU Law School in 1984. He was a skilled lawyer, admired and respected by his colleagues and clients at Thompson Coburn LLP, and he had a great deal of pleasure in working with them. He quietly helped a lot of people in profound ways. His elegance and passion for doing the right thing touched many hearts. He will be missed by many. Friends wishing to honor him are encouraged to donate to one of the following charities: Plan International USA, (planusa.org), Equal Justice Initiative, (eji.org), Feeding America, (feedingamerica.org), A/U Ranches, (adventureunlimited.org).