William "Bill" A. Canby

Bill a retired 35 year associate with Martin Marietta passed away peacefully after a long hard battle with Leukemia. He is survived by his wife Lila of 20 years, children; Scott, Gary, Susan & Jennifer, also 9 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren. Services Thursday, 7/11, 9am at Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary. Viewing will be 1 hour before. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in Bill's name can be made to Vitas Innovative Hospice Care of Denver, 141 Union Blvd. #320, Lakewood, CO 80228.

William Alexander Canby was born on October 11, 1927 in Baltimore, Maryland. Known to most as Bill Canby. Bill’s mother, Mary Parscalena Bailey, and father, Winfield Scott Canby raised 6 kids. Winfield bought a house and had a car all on $28.00 per week salary working for O’Neil’s Department Store where he delivered packages from the store to customers. The family did not ever want for anything. Bill always said, “It was a good life as a kid.”

Bill was born in his parents’ bedroom on Abbottston Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Bill’s siblings were Winfield Canby, Mary Canby Pfaff, Bernard Canby, Dorothy Canby Deaver and Pete Canby. Bill was the youngest of them all.

Some of Bill’s childhood memories include walking to the Wavely Theater every Saturday morning with all the kids and his buddies to watch westerns and cowboy shows that only cost 10 cents. Bill also went to New York City to attend the 1939 World’s Fair with Mary, Bill and his mother. They rented a boarding room for 2 weeks and had a great time. Bill was only 12 years old on that New York City trip. It was Bill’s first train and subway ride. Bill also enjoyed going to Ocean City, MD with sister Mary and her husband Bill. They rented an apartment for a month every summer and would take Bill with them. Bill would walk the shore of the back bay and catch soft crabs. When Bernie would come on the weekends they would rent a boat and go fishing for flounder. Mary would take Bill to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus when it came to Baltimore.

Bill completed Vocational Training School for sheet metal trade. He served in the US Navy from 1945 - 1947. Bill was 17 years old stationed at Camp Perry, VA for boot camp and then went to Norfolk Naval Air Station for the 2 years he served.

Bill married Agnes Love Sparks on June 5, 1948 at St. Bernard’s Church in Baltimore, Maryland. They had 4 children together. Charles Scott Canby born April 28, 1949, Gary David Canby born September 28, 1952, Susan Penelope Canby Threlkel born April 26, 1958 and Jennifer Ann Canby Rudolph born April 3, 1961. Some of the best memories when the kids were young was of camping in Fun Valley in Del Norte, CO with a 16 ½ foot travel trailer with 4 children and a dog. They caught a lot of fish from the stream at Fun Valley, the south fork of the Rio Grande River.

Bill worked at Western Electric installing telephone equipment in large buildings and businesses for 2 years. Then in 1950, Glenn L. Martin of Middle River, Maryland started a sheet metal stretch press company and Bill was the lead sheet metal man. Bill set up the machines then he was moved to process planning. In 1960, Bill moved to Colorado after he was offered a job at Martin Marietta in Denver, Colorado. Bill’s name was put in for the Colorado job and within three days he was moving to Denver. Bill was going to Colorado to work in the planning and production area which was responsible for building a missile at Martin Marietta. Bill really wanted to transfer to Orlando, FL to fish on the weekends and be near the ocean. Bill Pfaff, Bill’s brother-in-law, sold him a Pontiac that he drove to Colorado. He traveled the first leg of the trip with his father-in-law as far as Cleveland where he decided he wanted to go back home to Maryland. Bill stopped in Chicago to visit Agnes’ brother David on his way to Colorado. Bill worked for Martin Marietta for a total of 35 years in all.

The grandchildren are as follows: Alexander Canby (father Scott Canby), Amber and Tina Threlkel (mother Susan), Michael, Mark and Daniel Rudolph (mother Jennifer), Davona Harriman and Kendra Perry (father Kevin Harriman).

The great grandchildren are as follows: Miguel Threlkel, Paul and Christopher Chavez, Angelina and Victoria Allen (mother Amber), Anthoni Marquez (mother Tina), Elizabeth and Taylor Foxworth (mother Davona).

Agnes, Bill’s first wife, passed away on September 8, 1991 after a long battle with cancer.

Bill married Lila Keller on February 22, 1993 in Littleton, CO at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Both Bill and Lila were widows at the time and had both previously worked at Martin Marietta. Bill and Lila met at a Martin Marietta retirement party. Bill spent many weekends watching various sporting events which his nephews played in. He also enjoyed many family gatherings with his sister and brother-in-law, nephews and niece. Bill and Lila enjoyed lots of traveling and wonderful trips together. They enjoyed camping, fishing and just spending time with one another.

Some of Bill’s favorite vacations were to Australia and New Zealand with Lila and her sister Sandy and brother-in-law Jim. They went for 21 days and traveled by plane, boat and train. They also took trips to Alaska and Hawaii which were all amazing.

In Bill’s younger years he played football and baseball. When he was 10 he played baseball for the 33 Engine House. Many of the fire departments in Baltimore sponsored teams and the firemen coached them. Fishing and golf were his passions as he got older.

Bill’s favorite genre of music was Big Band and Show Tunes. Bill liked to watch “the boys” tap dance - Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. His favorite pets were Snickers - a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Jude - a German Sheppard who would fish with Bill on the banks of the river, “He wouldn’t move until I moved.” Some of Bill’s favorite foods were Maryland crab cakes, Maryland steamed crabs, ice cream, apple pie, cheesecake and Milky Way candy bars.

Bill was a loving, caring, kind and generous man. He always took care of his family and cared deeply for his friends. He will be greatly missed by all.