William Herbert McCord

A celebration of William’s life will be held on Friday, January 31, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd. Riverside, CA 92518.

Arrangements under the direction of Acheson and Graham Garden of Prayer Mortuary 7944 Magnolia Ave.

Riverside CA 92504

We now celebrate the 103 years that Bill lived. Bill was as active as he could be and fought to be independent. When asked the secret to his longevity, he said, “I have no excuse for living as long as I have.” He also said, “Just take what comes along and make the best of it.” And he did.

On April 10, 1910, William Herbert was born to William Hamilton McCord and Franke (Black) McCord in Guanajuato, Mexico. His father was a mining engineer there. He had an older brother, Jack, and a younger sister, Jean. When he was five, the family moved to Venice, California. He fondly remembered spending time at his grandparents’ ranch in northern California. In his twenties he worked at 20th Century Fox. He joined the Navy and served in Washington, D.C. during WW 2. He worked at IBM and at an aviation maintenance place in Van Nuys. When the aviation place went broke, Bill returned to IBM. On May 28, 1948, he married Dave’s mother, Velma Killingbeck Cudney. He then went to work at Cal Tech as manager of Data Processing. He retired from there 28 years later.

Bill enjoyed square and round dancing with his friends. He loved to travel throughout Europe, New Zealand, Alaska, Canada and the Hawaiian Islands (often). He cruised around the Caribbean Islands, the west coast of Mexico, and the St. Lawrence River. Dave, Loretta, Maxine and Bill rode the rails of the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Jasper to Prince George to Prince Rupert and back to Vancouver. Bill enjoyed fishing and camping at many lakes. Dave and Loretta flew Maxine and Bill to Grand Junction, Colorado, in their Piper Cherokee, to visit Bill’s nephew, Juan and Mary K. Bill got his private pilot’s license at the El Monte Airport about 1967. He enjoyed flying. On his 100th and 101st birthdays, he went flying with Dave in the RV7A. And he flew the plane! When Dave asked him if he wanted to land the plane, Bill told him that Dave better land it, since he (Bill) couldn’t see!!!

He enjoyed family gatherings with Dave Cudney, his stepson, and Loretta, his daughter-in-law, and his three grandchildren, Michael Cudney (Riverside), Jana Cudney (Ventura, CA) and Lisa Zaldivar (San Dimas, CA) and Anthony, her husband, and their three children (Bill's great-grandchildren), Anthony (Palm Desert, CA), Alyssa, and Christopher. We celebrated all birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas events together. Bill was an expert at hiding Easter eggs for two generations! He loved visiting and getting visits from his nephew, Juan and his wife, Mary K, and his great-nephews, John McCord (Grand Junction, CO), Jim McCord (working in Peru), Michael McCord (Portland, OR), Tom McCord (Socorro, NM), Mike Johnson and Nils Johnson and his great-nieces, Meg McCord (Grand Junction, CO), Patty McCord (Evergreen, CO), Leslie Fitzsimmons (New Jersey). Bill was preceded in death by his wife Velma; his brother, Jack; his sister, Jean; his niece, Rosemary Johnson; his great-niece, Rosemary McCord and one great nephew, Robert McCord.

Bill was a supporter of the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, CA, and the Salvation Army or you may want to donate to a charity of your choice in his memory.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please call (951) 688-1221.