William "Bill" Francis Moffett

William “Bill” F. Moffett, a life-long pilot, took his final flight on February 24th, 2023. He was 90 years old and is survived by his beloved wife, Donna, their three children, Brad, Sandy, and Julie, daughter-in-law, Beth, son-in-law, Scott, six grandchildren (Will, Kyle, Chris, Katy, Alexander, and Lucas) and seven great-grandchildren (Zoey, Sterling, Alea, Calvin, Atlas, Cora, and Adeline).

Born in Los Angeles, California on January 11, 1933 to Frances H. and William E. Moffett, Bill was an adventurous child who loved fishing (he caught his first one at 4 years old!), hiking, baseball, and airplanes. At a mere 14-years-old, Bill began working at a family gold mine deep in the woods of British Columbia. He controlled the water supply; built sluice boxes; drove the miners to the nearest town; used his .22 rifle to keep animals from their food supply; fished and collected berries to help feed the miners; read mail for the workers who were illiterate; and eventually drove the big bulldozer. In the autumn, he travelled home to high school in California on his own, an arduous week-long trip on various trains and buses. In Bill’s own words, “I have speculated on the amount of knowledge and learning I acquired [from working the mine] and how lucky I was to be able to do it.”

Bill attended Stanford University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history. At Stanford Bill found the three great loves of his life, Donna, golf and flying. He met Donna covering for a buddy who was off dating another woman. Donna was also a student at Stanford, and they married in September of 1953. They celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary this past year.

Bill played first base (and occasionally catcher) on the Stanford varsity baseball team for three years and was good enough to be drafted by the Detroit Tigers, (in the 38th round). But he wasn’t good enough to make a living at it and knew he couldn’t avoid the Army draft for the Korean War, so he joined Air Force ROTC. While a ROTC cadet, Bill attended summer camp and saw the inside of his first airplane. Encouraged by a mentor, he decided he wanted to try flying when he graduated. Around the same time, a friend in his fraternity who was on the Stanford golf team, invited Bill to caddy for him over a weekend, introducing him to golf. Bill enjoyed it so much, he learned to play golf on his friend’s home course, Pebble Beach, one of the most famous golf courses in the world! That was the beginning of Bill’s lifelong love of golf.

Bill commissioned into the Air Force in 1954 as a second lieutenant and attended pilot training at Spence Air Base in Moultrie Georgia flying the T-34 and the T-28 aircraft. Advanced pilot training followed at Reese AFB in Lubbock, Texas flying the TB-25, where he graduated first in his class.

Bill’s first operational assignment was at Mather AFB, Sacramento, California. He flew the T-29 aircraft used to train future Air Force navigators like his son, Brad. Bill also qualified in his first pure jet aircraft, the T-33. Following that work, he spent two months at weapons controller training at Tyndall AFB Florida before being assigned to ground controlled intercept sites at Fire Island, Alaska, off the coast of Anchorage and at Ft Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina.

Bill returned to full-time flying and Tyndall AFB for his next assignment. He flew multiple aircraft there, flying VIPs, towing drones for fighter targets practice, and hauling people.

Bill headed next to Vietnam. He trained in the venerable C-47 “Gooney Bird” at McClellan AFB, California and ferried the aircraft, loaded with extra full tanks across the Pacific to Nha Trang Air Base. His unit was an Air Commando Squadron, which later took the name “Special Operations.” The primary missions were psychological ops leaflet drops and flare drops for night illumination of ground targets.

The Air Force, with equally probable unintended malice or a sense of humor, sent him from the jungles of Vietnam to Loring AFB on the far northern Maine border after a brief stop in California to learn how to fly yet another aircraft, the KC-135 air refueling tanker. Now in the Strategic Air Command, Bill advanced from aircraft commander to multiple leadership positions over his seven years of duty there. He served as a squadron operations officer, squadron commander, and the Assistant Deputy for Operations.

After promotion to Colonel, Bill was assigned to Rickenbacker AFB near Columbus, Ohio. He served the 301st Air Refueling Wing as Deputy Commander of Resources and then Deputy Commander of Operations. Following that assignment, his next position was at Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa in Japan. He served as the Vice Wing Commander of the 376th Strategic Wing. The wing flew KC-135 tankers and RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft. The wing also supported rotational U-2 and SR-71 spy missions.

His final official assignment was to the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command at Offutt AFB, Nebraska. Bill served as the Director of Tanker (KC-135/KC-10) Operations. He was responsible for global air refueling operations.

In total, Bill flew 20 different military aircraft, logging more than 7,500 flying hours, including 862 combat hours. He was a decorated Vietnam veteran and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross, eight air medals, a Legion of Merit, four Meritorious Service Medals and multiple other awards.

Following retirement from the Air Force, Bill worked for two years at United Airlines then retired again, this time to play golf as often as possible and custom build golf clubs in his own workshop attached to the house. He served as the president of the Sun City Men’s Golf Association, serving twice as the president for the Palmbrook Country Club, and one year as the president of the Arizona Seniors Golf Association. His “retirement” also included flying for the Civil Air Patrol, and he achieved the coveted Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of flying.

Bill shared season tickets to watch his beloved Diamondbacks, cheered on the Arizona Coyotes hockey team, and enjoyed frequent visits from his children and grandchildren. He had a special fondness for lemon méringue pie, Tom Thumb cookie bars, a perfectly cooked steak and Popeye’s chicken. He loved hugs and gave the best ones, too. He did the crossword puzzle every morning with Donna, chortled at puns, taught every single grandchild how to drive in his golf cart, and patiently inflated the giant blue hippo every time one of the little ones wanted to swim in their pool.

He could play the piano and organ quite well and enjoyed performing songs like “Tea For Two” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” while gamely singing along. He loved to tell and write stories about his many incredible life adventures, played a great game of Wii bowling, and was a voracious reader. He was the best husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend to all, and he will be missed terribly.