Willis Henry "Bill" Waldo

Willis "Bill" Henry Waldo, age 85, of San Luis Obispo passed away Monday, Nov. 21, 2005.

Born in Detroit, Mich. on Sept. 27, 1920, he was a loving father of five, grandfather of five, and devoted husband. He is survived by sons; Dale, (wife, Donna and their children, Caitlin, John and Max) and Richard, (wife, Beverly and their children, Chris and Stephanie) from St. Louis, Missouri and daughters; Judy, from Charleston, S.C., Sara, from San Rafael, Calif. and Patricia (husband, Jonathan) from Los Angeles, Calif.

He held a B.S. from Washington and Jefferson College and worked for the Bureau of Standards, Socony Vacuum, and DuPont. He then received a M.S. from University of Maryland in chemistry, where he met his wife, of 55 years, Anna Lee. He first joined Monsanto's Mound Laboratory as a technical editor and witnessed the first atomic testing, in Nevada, prior to World War II. Monsanto transferred him to St. Louis as an Administrative Manager of the new Agricultural Department. His book "Better Report Writing," (Reinhold Publishing, 1960, 2nd ed. 1965) was used as instruction for writing and publishing laboratory research papers. He was the first person to program three-dimensional chemical structures into digital computers, which at that time were the size of a room.

Bill was active in the Chemical Literature Division of the American Chemical Society and edited their St. Louis Section Bulletin. He was also a member of the Society of Technical Writers and Publishers. He was a member of the St. Louis Westerners. There he gathered information for his wife, who was writing her first historical novel, "Sacajawea." The novel became a bestseller worldwide. He worked 35 years with Monsanto, retired and worked several years as the Operations Manager for the Industrial Research Corporation

Research Institute in St. Louis.

To continue retirement, Bill and Anna Lee came to SLO in 1985. He will be remembered for his warm generosity, quick wit and his deep committed friendship with his wife. He had a passion for current events, loved a good debate and found community within the sport of golf in SLO. He will be greatly missed by all that knew him. In keeping with his wishes, the family held a private ceremony. Also, it was his wish that in lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the SLO Salvation Army in his name.