William Strever, 1/14/1954-5/2/2016
Bill was born in Sayner, Wisconsin on January 14th, 1954 to Carl and Jane Strever. An army brat, he spent his early childhood in Frankfurt, Germany before moving around to several states including Virginia, Texas, and Kansas. In Bill's early teens, the family settled on Camano Island, where they built the Camano Island Airfield, then called Strev-Air.
Bill attended Stanwood schools from junior high on, graduating from Stanwood High School in 1972. He loved to joke and have a good time and had a reputation for being a prankster. It was not uncommon to see him driving around town in his '49 Plymouth getting into mischief with his classmates.
He spent much of his teen years helping out at the family airfield, and later spent a summer working in Dillingham, Alaska in the salmon fishing industry, which he often spoke of fondly. Shortly thereafter, Bill was hired on at Boeing, where he worked for many years as a toolmaker.
Bill married Diane Strever on September 3rd, 1979. They had two children, Bethany and Kyle. Bill and Diane raised the kids on the family property on Camano Island, where Bill remained for most of the rest of his life, before moving to Mount Vernon in recent years.
Bill was a brilliant man and was a wealth of knowledge on all things history, science, and aviation. He had a love for wildlife, especially birds and bird-watching. He had a knack for photography, developing and printing beautiful photographs in his own darkroom. He had an adventurous spirit, and enjoyed skiing and SCUBA diving. His true passion was for flying helicopters and small planes, learning to fly at a young age and holding a pilot's license for many years. Bill was known for his talent in executing aerobatic maneuvers. He loved to share his passion with others and would bring along anyone brave enough to join him.
Bill was preceded in death by his brother, Jim, and his mother and father.
He is survived by his two children, Bethany and Kyle.
There will be a memorial service in the chapel of Gilbertson's Funeral Home, 27001 88th Ave. NW in Stanwood at 11 am, Saturday, May 14th with a lunch reception to follow at the American Legion.