William F. Gross

"Bill" Gross passed away Dec. 27, 2003, at St. Helena Hospital in Deer Park.

He was undergoing an angiogram and aspirated during the procedure. He was in ICU on life support for six days before his passing.

Bill was born on Oct. 28, 1922, in Berkeley. In 1936, he and his family moved to Kelseyville, where he graduated from Kelseyville High School in 1940.

On Nov. 22, 1940, he married his high school sweetheart, Geneva Johnson. In 1941, he attended Armstrong Business College in Berkeley.

He proudly joined the United States Marine Corps in 1944. He served with the First Marine Division in the Pacific area during World War II, where he received the Purple Heart and Silver Star for heroism. He also had an 11-month tour of duty in Korea (Choison Reservoir) as an infantry unit leader.

In 1967, he served in Vietnam as an administrative officer with the Marine Air Control Group. He was the designated ground defense officer in charge of overall security in the combat area. He received the Navy Commendation Medal.

In 1969, he received a Marine Corps Certificate of Merit for reorganizing discharge procedures which resulted in a yearly cost reduction of nearly $1 million.

He was stationed at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Southern California, from 1964 until he retired in 1970. After his retirement he went to work for the County of Orange Social Services Department from 1970 to 1974.

He and Geneva decided that they would like to relocate to Northern California and they moved to Ukiah, where he worked for the County of Mendocino Social Services Department, beginning in 1974 and retiring in 1984. In 2001, they moved to Lakeport.

Bill was an active participant in youth groups. He organized junior small bore rifle clubs and instructed hunter safety courses to qualify young men for California hunting licenses. He worked closely with the Boy Scouts. He established a rifle range at a San Francisco area Boy Scout camp and conducted the range on a full time basis for two summers in 1955 and 1956.

Bill is survived by his wife, Geneva; son, Dan; daughter and son-in-law, Denise and Tony Simpson, all residing in Lakeport; and sister, Barbara Schnabl of Kelseyville.

He was preceded in death by his mom and dad, Sara and Fred Gross of Kelseyville and his brother, Ed.

His wishes were to be cremated without any services.

He was a wonderful husband and father with a great sense of humor. He was given the nickname "Clown," while he was in the Marine Corps.

He is greatly missed.