William "Bill" Blau

Bill Blau, a WWII veteran, was less than two months from his 100th birthday when he died attending a commemoration on the USS Potomac for the 80th anniversary of D Day in the San Francisco Bay. He was the guest of honor and set to throw the wreath overboard during the commemoration for the fallen, but didn't make it all the way to the ceremony.

Bill lived an extraordinary life; born 1924 in Gary Indiana where he worked in the steel mills at a young age, until the death of his father at age 12 during the grips of the Great Depression, when he moved to Shaker Heights Ohio living in an orphan home through high school. He then went into the Army Air Corps during WWII where he served from 1943-1946. After the war he utilized the GI Bill to go to Ohio State Univ, and later received a degree in psychology at Univ of Chicago and translated his study of human behavior into a career in market research and brand design.

Years later Bill started his own Marketing and Design firm, Blau Bishop and Associates, focused on brand identity and package design. Bill was awarded the Marketing Man of the Year from Chicago's American Marketing Association for advancement of the science of marketing in 1965. He also served for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) where he was an envoy to South Korea, Morocco, and Jamaica consulting on brand marketing development for consumer packaged goods.

Although a successful businessman in Chicago, his passions for Civil Rights were very strong, making him an anti-war activist against the Vietnam War and a fully engaged humanitarian trying to make change in the world. He was often organizing and fund raising for different causes throughout his life, and even ran for congress in the 1950's.

Bill spent his final years with his ever growing family, growing grapes in Knights Valley CA, and staying engaged in politics and world events. He would often wear his WWII Veteran hat, which would illicit daily conversation with people that would come up and thank him for his service, and he cherished the opening to decry the virtue of war and talk about how he wanted less conflict in the world.

Bill was a family man and was very proud of his large and extended family whom he was able to spend a lot of time with in his later years. He is survived by his wife of 54 year Meredith; his five children George, Barbara, Rebecca, Scott, and Billy; his grandchildren Charlotte, Rose, Michael, Aaron, Nathan, Parker and Zoe; along with his six great grandchildren Hazel, Carrick, Stirling, Zoey, Chloe, and Skylar.