William Robert Milnes Jr.

William “Bill” Robert Milnes, Jr., 72, of Naples, Florida passed away peacefully at home November 8, 2018.

Bill was born January 11, 1946 in St. Louis, MO to William R Milnes, Sr and Patricia J Milnes. He received both his undergraduate and MBA degrees at the University of Missouri in accounting and finance. Bill was very proud of his service as a Sargent in the U. S. Marine Corps. He had a long and distinguished career in the insurance industry, most recently as the CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Vermont. He also served as a leader of many community service and charitable organizations.

He was a man of many interests. Retirement days were spent with his friends on the golf course at Colliers Reserve. He loved his family, was passionate about science, technology, investing and science fiction. He passed his love of reading and learning on to his children. He was a fierce competitor in everything he did-whether it was implementing a cutting edge data warehousing project, playing golf with his buddies or Jenga with his family. He never gave up.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Rebecca J. Milnes , children: William L Milnes (Meaghan) of St. Louis, MO, Julia K Emge (Jon) of Prospect, KY, Kristen E. Milnes of Columbus, OH, David C. Milnes of Sebastopol, CA; grandchildren Ethan Milnes and Mia Milnes of St. Louis, MO; and sister Adrienne Wetzel (Neal) of Colleyville, TX.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the Gary Sienese Foundation or Habitat for Humanity . A Celebration of Life will take place on Sunday, December 2, 2018 from 10am-12pm at the Spink Pavilion in St. Louis, MO (4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110).