William Kenneth Tierney

William Kenneth Tierney passed away on July 27th, 2025 at 82 years old. Bill was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 30th, 1942, to loving parents William and Marguerite Tierney. He grew up in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, with his siblings, Nancy, Ray, and Jim, and was the oldest of 32 cousins in his close-knit, Irish-Catholic family.

At age 17, Bill joined the U.S. Air Force, where he served for 12 years in various roles, including Radar Technician. During his service, Bill met his wife and soulmate, future-elementary school teacher Elyse Louise Miller, when they served as best man and maid of honor at their friends’ wedding. The two were married in 1971. Soon after, Bill retired from the service and enrolled at San Diego State University, where he graduated in 1975 with a B.S. in Marketing, with honors from Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma.

After graduating, Bill began his career in banking, working his way up from Branch Manager at Home Federal to Senior Vice President at Hemet Federal Savings & Loan. Prior to retiring, Bill would spend the last 10 years of his professional career as an investment broker at A.G. Edwards.

After marrying, Bill and Elyse moved to San Jose where they had their first son, Adam, in 1978, and then to Escondido where they had their second son, Blake, in 1983. The family moved to Hemet in 1985, where they would raise their boys and reside for the next 30 years, before ultimately retiring to La Jolla.

Bill was a kind, sweet man with a witty intellect and cheesy sense of humor, who enjoyed trivia game shows, sweets, photography, national parks, and traveling. He loved taking his family on cross-state trips, ultimately visiting all 50 states in his lifetime, plus a number of other countries. He was very active in his community, a devout member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hemet and Christ Lutheran Church in San Diego. He also served in his local Rotary Club, where he received a Paul Harris Fellow recognition, and in the YMCA Indian Guides, along with his two sons.

Bill had a lifelong passion for sports, from watching the Brooklyn Dodgers as a kid to later becoming a loyal season ticketholder for the San Diego Chargers, Anaheim Angels, and San Diego Padres. He loved playing softball, serving as a pitcher on several teams. He was a fan of crime dramas, with TV shows like Columbo and films like The Shawshank Redemption topping his all-time-favorites lists. In recent years, he developed a deep love of cribbage, and, tech enthusiast that he was, would often challenge his friends to a game online. Bill loved trivia books and almanacs (his go-to annual Christmas gift) and anything to do with wartime and history.

But more than anything, Bill was a family man who adored his wife Elyse, two sons Adam and Blake, daughters-in-law Amy and Tesera, and six amazing grandchildren, Rylee, Lucy, Django, Adele, Nina, and Vivienne, all of whom he was endlessly proud. Whether it involved joining them on incredible travel adventures or relaxing at home watching game shows and eating pizza, Bill loved being with his family more than anything. And we all love and miss him more than any obituary could convey.

Goodbye, Dad. Enjoy Heaven, say hello to your parents, and we’ll see you again one day.