William “Bill” Wagner

Known to everyone as “Wags,” Bill was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, on April 2, 1954, and raised in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. A graduate of St. Ann’s Grammar School in Fair Lawn and St. Joseph’s High School in Montvale, N.J., he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Carolina. Bill was proud of his work as a technician on several films, including “The Swamp Thing,” and was a partner with his longtime friend, Ronnie Wingard, in Five Points Electric Co. He lived in Columbia for more than 50 years.

Bill is survived by his longtime life-partner, Yvonne Reynolds, his brother, Joseph, sister-in-law Christina, his niece Barbara and his nephews Christopher and Joseph (and his wife, Hope). He is predeceased by his mother, Barbara, and father, Joseph.

Wags is also survived by a legion of friends because anyone who knew him, loved him. His warmth, kindness and generosity naturally drew people to him and he embraced their friendship with open arms. Bill loved his family the most, Yvonne once said, and he loved his friends as family.

If you knew Wags, you knew he lived a life espoused by his favorite band, The Grateful Dead (he saw his first Dead concert in 1973 and his last in 2024). He loved baseball, the New York Yankees and Mickey Mantle, not necessarily in that order. He carried his love of the game to his years patrolling center field on The Band of Desperate Men softball team sponsored by Yesterday’s, a time he cherished and talked about long after his playing days were over. And he loved poker, and the weekly poker games he hosted for decades were legendary.

Bill also took pride – and shared a great many laughs - in winning the best dressed dishwasher award for his time working at Le Petit Chateau. He liked nothing better than to share a good laugh and he reveled in the comedy of Fireside Theater and George Carlin, as well as the crooning of that other Jersey guy, Frank Sinatra.

Wags was an eternal optimist who always chose to see the best in people. If you were lucky enough to be a friend of Bill’s, you know how fortunate you are because friends like Wags don’t come along very often in life.

Bill had a wonderful philosophy about life that he once imparted to his nephew, Joseph: “You have a front row ticket to life. You can sit back in your seat and watch it, or you can live it.” Bill certainly lived it.

It is going to be hard for all of us without Bill Wagner in our lives. His infectious comedic routines, his always-welcoming greeting and his love of life, though, will always be with us. Thank you, Wags, for letting us all be a part of your world. You made a place in it for all of us, and we are all better people for it.

At this time funeral arrangements are incomplete. We will post more information as it becomes available.