Willard (Bill) Jennings Guy, Jr., 88, of Lawrence, died on the morning of April 15, 2019, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Bill was born on April 19, 1930, in Denver, Colorado, to Willard J. Guy, Sr. and Evelyn Kathryn Guy. Bill was married to two beautiful wives: Barbara (Yates) Guy from 1954 until her death in 2002, where their focus was on their three children and grandchildren; and Patricia (Pauley) Guy, a Presbyterian pastor, from 2004 until her death in 2018. He is survived by his three children: Pam (Bob) Romanko of Coos Bay, Oregon; Cyndi Guy of Casper, Wyoming; and David (Ingelise) Guy of Truckee, California; three step children: John (Rita) Holmes of Stratham, New Hampshire; David (Irene Alarcon) Holmes of Mequon, Wisconsin; and Amy (Jeff) Hargroves of Kansas City, Missouri; eight grandchildren: Ally Romanko and Katie (Matt) Freeman, Eric, Logan and Abrienne Vierkant, and Nielsen, Maren and Andersen Guy; four step-grandchildren: Samara and Annika Holmes, and Jackson and Katie Hargroves; one great-grandson: Jaxson Vierkant; and Perry Dickey of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, his boyhood friend of over 80 years. He was preceded in death by his three siblings: Shirley, Barbara and Michael, and his legendary Cocker Spaniel Rocky.
Bill has lived in Lawrence, Kansas, for the past 29 years. He was a geologist for the Kansas Geological Survey. He was very active in the community, where he enjoyed theatre, lectures at the Bob Dole Institute, observing orangutans at the Topeka and Kansas City Zoos, learning about the Negro Baseball Leagues in Kansas City, eating Swedish pancakes at IHOP and Greek salads at the Mad Greek, visiting his friends at Saffee’s clothing store to make sure they were working hard, attending Plymouth Congregational Church, visiting National Parks, and volunteering at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He actively researched and wrote about the Swedish National Sanitorium in Denver (which his grandparents helped found) during this time.
Bill spent 25 years in Casper, Wyoming, from 1962 to 1987, where he worked for Union Oil Company and Kirkwood Oil and Gas. He was very passionate about geology and received the Frank Morgan Award for outstanding contributions to geology in Wyoming. He was an avid skier and volunteer ski patrolman at Hogadon (now Casper Mountain) Ski Area, where he served as Head Patrolman for several years. He organized the Casper Figure Skating Club; coached youth baseball for 20 years, serving as the manager for the Casper Oilers and Drillers and several Babe Ruth baseball teams; and volunteered for the Girl Scouts and the Friends of the Library. He played handball several times a week at the YMCA for more than twenty years and was a devout fan of the Casper College Thunderbirds and Wyoming Wildcatters basketball teams.
Bill and his wife Barbara also lived for shorter times in Denver; Wichita, Kansas; Newark, Ohio; and San Diego, California.
Bill served two tours in the U.S. Navy and was a proud veteran of the Korean Conflict, where he was a radarman on the destroyer escort USS Hanna and the carrier USS Bairoko.
He graduated from the University of Colorado in Geology in 1955 and East High School in Denver, Colorado, in 1948.
The family will have a celebration of life in Colorado this summer. Memorial contributions may be made directly to Lawrence Memorial Hospital Health Foundation at www.lmhendowment.org. His family thanks Bill’s friends, former colleagues, his long-time physician Dr. Richard Sosinski, the amazing staff at Lawrence Memorial and nursing staff at Pioneer Ridge, who all showed so much kindness and compassion to him in his final months.
Bill was great colleague and geoscientist at KU. He was passionate soul.
Bill was the devoted husband of my mother, Pat. From the moment they met, Pat and Bill shared a special connection. Actually, it was before they met when my mother reviewed Bill’s entry on an online dating site. As a minister, my Mom thought online dating was a very risky proposition, but Bill was the one person she saw that interested her and they were perfect for one another. They even shared the same birthday – April 19th. They were married less than a year after they met.
Bill had the great fortune to find and marry two women he deeply loved and whom deeply loved him. He had the misfortune to outlive them both. Bill was a blessing for my mother and there is no one who saw the two of them together who didn’t see how happy they made each other. Even as their physical abilities declined, they still enjoyed weekly visits to the Dole Center, their favorite restaurant, The Mad Greek, and IHOP. Bill kindly supported my Mom’s favorite church in Lawrence, Plymouth Congregational.
Living in Kansas City, my family and I were close enough to spend time with them for celebratory meals at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Bill always regaled us with fun and interesting stories about his many life adventures. My mother LOVED hearing Bill’s stories, and so did we.
Thank you to Bill and to the entire Guy family for being such a meaningful part of my mother’s life and ours. We will all miss Bill.
Bill and Pat have been our good friends for the past 5 or 6 years. We fully enjoyed their company at church, at IHOP, at Lawrence Theater, in their home and our home. They even attended our 50th wedding anniversary celebration two years ago. Even though their health was declining they enjoyed being active and among other people. After Pat’s death Bill continued to do the same activities he and Pat enjoyed because it made him feel closer to her. We enjoyed his company until the day of his death. He was a very good friend and always expressed his gratitude for our friendship. We will miss him.
We will always have our memories of our time with Bill and his family.
Dear Guy Family,
May you all find peace and comfort in all the the wonderful memories of your Dad and Grandpa. What a life to celebrate!