William Mathew Atherlay Sproul

William Mathew Atherlay Sproul of Broomfield, a lifelong artist and global adventurer, passed away suddenly on July 4 at the age of 76. An avid outdoorsman with the soul of an artist, Bill was a keen painter who experimented with many media. He was a mountaineer, climber, cyclist, skier and sailor. Bill grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, where scouting and visits to the Highlands were early influences. He lived in many locations around the world during a lengthy career in marketing and sales. Bill was a member of climbing teams that completed first ascents in Scotland, the Alps and in the Himalayas. In 1970, he and three other mountaineers charted new routes in the Hindu Kush range of Afghanistan. Along the way, they collected botanic samples for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. For the three-month expedition, the four drove a Ford transit van from Edinburgh to Kabul and beyond, engaged porters and pack horses to access unexplored valleys, and climbed several summits. He also traversed the Matterhorn and many other peaks in the Alps, as well as several Colorado fourteeners and Mount Whitney in California.As a mountain biker, Bill completed a bikepacking trip on GR5, a long-distance trail in the Alps, and two iconic climbs of the Tour de France--the Mont Ventoux in Provence and the Alpes d' Huez in the French Alps. He also competed in the 24 Hours of Moab race in Utah.Bill obtained an associate degree in marketing from Langside College in Glasgow. His first jobs, with Hoover, Ltd. and General Electric (UK), involved selling washing machines and vacuum cleaners in the rough-and-tumble neighborhoods of Glasgow. A smart dresser with a strong sense of color and proportion, Bill later worked for Revlon, calling on all the major department stores in Scotland. He joined British American Tobacco (BAT) in London, which posted him to its locations in Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. At a Yemeni port, he once sat with armed guards on top of a loaded truck to protect a BAT cargo shipment traveling through Yemen to Saudi Arabia from thieves. He next moved to Barbados with sales responsibility for all the Americas. Bill eventually returned to Revlon and London, where he was assigned the European territory for some of the company's biggest brands. More recently, Bill operated his own international marketing consulting business, Export Connections LLC, for five years. He took on clients including Satloc, an Arizona company that was an early adopter of GPS technology for agriculture and forestry applications. Bill helped the company sell its products in South America and in the Midwestern U.S. farm belt. In 1990 Bill married Patricia Healey, a public relations executive then based in London; they met on an airplane. The couple skied together in Europe, Canada, and the U.S., once skiing to the base of many of the Dolomite rock faces that Bill had climbed as a young man. In 1996 they moved to Los Angeles and he worked for Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). He also crewed on a friend's sailboat during races around Catalina Island. In 2009 they moved to Colorado and until 2015, Bill worked at REI's Denver flagship store, where he was known as a generous mentor and coach for younger employees.A devoted son of Scotland, Bill returned to his native country to support the national independence referendum in 2014.Bill had an insatiable curiosity and zest for life. No challenge was too great. He was passionate about the outdoors and wild places. He loved books, movies, music, the theater and opera. The library was his second home. He expressed himself creatively though his art, photography, woodworking and writing. He delighted in exploring the world, especially the out-of-the way places, and was at ease with people of all persuasions. He loved a great debate and held his own with the best of them. He was self-taught in so many of the things that he pursued. But most importantly, Bill was funny, thoughtful, interesting and interested. He was a natural teacher who had the gift of listening, giving those he engaged with his full attention and consideration. Bill was a loyal friend, and loved by so many around the world.He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Martha, brother Alan, and daughter Julie from an earlier marriage. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Healey Sproul; three sisters (Sandra and Matty in Scotland, Frances in northern England); many nieces and nephews in Scotland including Angus Sproul and a great nephew, Munro Sproul; as well as his beloved Jack Russell terrier, Maggie. A celebration of his life will be held from 6:00 to 9:00 pm Friday August 24, 2018 at the Oak Room at Oskar Blues Brewery 1800 Pike Road (coroner of Pike Rd and Sunset St.) Longmont. Donations in his memory may be sent to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, New York, www.msf.org/donate); the John Muir Trust (www.johnmuirtrust.org/support-us); Ecocentro, Puerto Madryn, Argentina http://www.ecocentro.org.ar; or Scouts Scotland (www.scouts.scot/support-us/donate). ###