William "Bill" Bruce Cariker

William Bruce Cariker, affectionately known as Bill, was born in Denver, Colorado to his parents, Joe W. Cariker and Koren K. Cariker in 1953. His early life in Colorado was followed by a move to Texas during his elementary years. After living in Austin for a year, his father accepted a job in West Columbia, Texas working at Varner-Hogg State Park. Bill and his siblings had the joy of growing up in the park with their parents always close by. Bill graduated from Columbia High School in 1971.

Following high school, he headed off for a year at the University of Texas at Austin before transferring to Southwestern University in Georgetown. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and had remained close to his fraternity brothers ever since.

After graduating from Southwestern with a dual degree in Biology and Chemistry, Bill went to work for Dow Chemical in Lake Jackson, Texas. While at Dow, he met the absolute love of his life. Lynne and Bill married in College Station March 9, 1985. Together, they decided they both wanted to go back to graduate school, so they moved to College Station in 1984 for Lynne to enter Vet School at Texas A&M and Bill enrolled in their MBA program. Upon completing graduate degrees, they moved to Austin where Bill began his career as a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch and Lynne joined a veterinary practice in the city. After working for Merrill Lynch for almost 25 years, Bill joined Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Wealth Management making his career as a financial advisor span 39 years. Bill’s greatest joy was working with clients and

their families. His philosophy was: “We all have a finish line, and life is heavy. Be a good teacher. Lend a hand. Move the needle. Push the rock. Help carry the box.” He always thought about others before himself.

In his time off, Bill and Lynne enjoyed traveling. The last big trip was to Africa in 2020 just before the world closed down due to the Covid pandemic.

Survivors include Lynne, his loving wife of 41 years and his 2 faithful dogs; Sister, Deborah Cariker Burns; Brother, Leigh Cariker and wife Judy as well as their daughters Abby Cariker and Dr. Gwen Cariker; Sisters-in-law Carol Boggs and Ann McCarley and husband Lon as well as their son Ryan and wife Jessie Ziegler, and daughter Beth McCarley and Eric Carlson along with numerous cousins and extended family. He is also survived by Godson, Jack Gillis.

Funeral services will be private.

A celebration of life will be held at their home from 1 to 5 pm on March 21. Attire is colorful, casual clothing. No gifts or flowers, please.

In lieu of flowers please donate to either:

Hill Country Conservancy or Austin Classical Guitar