William Pinaire

1945 - 2025

William Bernard Pinaire, born November 25, 1945, in Wichita, Kansas, passed away on August 24, 2025, at Ray Hickey Hospice House in Vancouver, Washington. "Bill," as most people knew him, had long battled numerous health problems, and his famously large and infinitely loving heart finally failed him. Bill spent his final days surrounded by close family and friends, and he left this world as peacefully as he lived in it. He was a man of grace, dignity, and class: a person who brightened the room with his smile, shared his love with bear hugs, held you close with his firm grip, and lived as the very definition of a great man. We will all miss him dearly.

Bill is survived by his wife of 56 years, Janet (née Lucas); his son, Brian; his daughter-in-law, Emily Baird; his grandsons, Lucas and William; his brother, Fred Pinaire; and his sisters, Marita Navarro, Betty Walker, Barbara Pinaire, and Judy Pinaire. He was preceded in death by his father, Marion Bernard (Bill) Pinaire; his mother, Mary Esther Huelskamp; his stepfather-in-law, Ben Titus; and his older sister, Carmella Lynch.

Bill grew up in the cities of Wichita, Kingman, and Derby, Kansas, living and working on the family farm. He graduated from Kapaun High School in Wichita, in 1963, and attended Creighton University, in Omaha, Nebraska, from which he graduated with a degree in pharmacy, in 1969. That same year he married Janet Lucas, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Bill began working for Beaton Drug in downtown Omaha and eventually purchased Dall Drug on 30th Street, in the Minne Lusa neighborhood of Omaha. He owned this store for more than three decades and managed its transition into a newly built health clinic in the Florence neighborhood of the city, in the early 1990s. As a firm believer in being involved, Bill was active in the North Omaha business community, including the Florence Kiwanis Club and the North Omaha Commercial Club, while also playing various volunteer roles within the Raven Oaks neighborhood, where he lived. He was also a member of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, where he served on the board of directors.

In 2005, Bill and Jan moved from Omaha to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to be closer to their first grandson, Lucas, who had just been born. While living in Pennsylvania, Bill continued to work as a pharmacist, part-time, but he also spent ample quality time with Lucas, including babysitting him on the day he took his first steps. Bill was delighted to learn that his second grandson, William, would be named in his honor and would even assume the same nickname, "Wills," which Jan often used to refer to Bill. They would become known as Big Wills and Little Wills.

When Brian, Emily, Lucas, and Wills moved from Pennsylvania to Portland, Oregon, in 2013, Bill and Jan followed them to the West Coast and settled across the Columbia River, in Vancouver, Washington. Bill and Jan maintained their passion for gardening in the Pacific Northwest, and Bill loved attending his grandsons' school and sporting events. He also enjoyed activities with the Clark County Newcomers Club and Men's Group, as well as volunteering at the Clark County Food Bank. Bill loved playing word games, especially Words with Friends, and he was an expert at crossword puzzles, including figuring out answers while Brian read him the clues, bedside, during his final weeks in the hospital and in hospice care.

Bill opted to be cremated and to have his ashes interred in a pre-chosen plot at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska, following a celebration-of-life memorial in spring 2026. Friends and family members can expect to hear more about those details over the next few months.

As a sign of your love and respect for this amazing husband, father, grandfather, and citizen of the world, the family requests donations in Bill's name to one of the following:

National Public Radio (https://www.npr.org/donations/support).

Friends of Hospice, Southwest Washington (www.friends-of-hospice.org).

In closing, take a moment to hug your loved ones. Go-do it right now. Don't wait. There will come a time when you can't do it again. It's what Bill would want.