WILLIAM ELLIOT GHEEN

WILLIAM (BILL, BUSTER) ELLIOT GHEEN
November 8, 1938 - December 3, 2025
William (Bill, Buster) Elliot Gheen, Jr., born in Zions View, PA, on November 8, 1938, died peacefully on December 3, 2025, in Santa Fe, NM. He lived a long, interesting life-from a childhood traveling with Bill Monroe's bluegrass band and the Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers, Rogers Brothers, and Cristiani Brothers circuses; to high school at St. Leo College Preparatory School in Pasco County, FL; undergraduate studies at Georgetown University; and studies at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, as a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico City, and at the University of Maryland as a doctoral student of Economics, where, while teaching in Munich, he met his future wife, Ingrid (Ehrmann).
Bill Gheen was a man of diverse and deep interests, which led to many hobbies, passions, and adventures at home and abroad. He found people endlessly interesting and worthy of respect and care, admiring Indigenous cultures, immigrants and emigrants, and family and domestic life as much as world leaders, ancient and modern histories, politics, science, and the arts.
After finishing his PhD, Bill enjoyed a long, rewarding career at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC. As soon as he retired, he "un-retired," completing a master's degree in art and museum studies at George Washington University, studying French as a visiting student at the Sorbonne, volunteering at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and learning to sail by joining a Caribbean regatta and surviving a storm at sea!
Ultimately, Bill and his wife left their home in Rockville, MD, and settled in Santa Fe to be nearer their adult children (Margaret, Theresa, Christina), sons-in-law (Dean, Tiago, Kevin), and grandchildren (Leah Mina, Gemma, Tristan, Peter, Julia), who had migrated west.
Bill's friendships spanned what for some are political, economic, and geographic "boundaries," but for him were permeable contours of the human condition. He believed the most honorable aspirations were lifelong inquiry, public service in its many forms, and standing up to bullies. If Bill Gheen knew you, he cared about you-and he'd tell you that you don't have to be perfect to be good.
A memorial celebration of life will be held January 3, 2026, in Santa Fe. In accordance with his wishes, Bill will be buried next to his parents, William Elliot Gheen, Sr., and Theresa Margaret (Portas) Gheen, in Zions View. He is survived by his sister, Theresa Louise (Gheen) Ritcherson. His sister Rachel Helen (Gheen) Hebert passed away in 2014.
To honor Bill's support for economically disadvantaged students seeking higher education, the family suggests donations be sent in his name to the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation. Additional information can be found at www.bonner.org/donation.