John "Bill" William Elias

John William “Bill” Elias passed away after a short illness on Monday, November 30, 2015 at his home in Burbank. He was 78 years old. Bill is survived by his wife of 58 years, Esther; son, Ken; daughter-in-law Robynne; son, Dan, daughter, Sherry; son-in-law Mike, granddaughters, Tatiana, Julie, and Carly; grandson, Tyler; brother, Henry, of Chico, CA; brother, Robert, and sister-in-law, Judith of Port Hueneme, CA; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Linda and Dennis Harris, of Burbank, CA; brother in-law and sister-in-law, Tom and Judy Guiffrida, of West Palm Beach, FL, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Bill was born in Los Angeles, CA on September 6, 1937. He attended Burbank schools and graduated from John Burroughs High in 1956. Bill and Esther, together since age 15, married on August 18, 1957. They raised their family in Burbank.

Bill worked in acquisitions at Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 40 years until his retirement in 2004. He was proud to have served as a Burbank Police Reserve Officer from January 1979 to September 2003 when he retired in the rank of Lieutenant. Bill volunteered for almost 20 years at Huntington Hospital in pet-assisted therapy (otherwise known as the “PAT Program”) with his loyal and last partner, Annie a Labrador retriever. Bill and Annie also volunteered at Burbank Buena Vista Library with a children’s reading program. Children were able to gain confidence in their reading skills by reading to Annie. Bill also left behind a golden retriever, Bonnie who he was working to prepare for volunteer work upon Annie’s retirement.

A celebration of Bill’s life is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 9, 2016 at Buena Vista Library at 300 N. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the charity of your choice, a donation to the PAT Program at Huntington Memorial Hospital, or, the National Kidney Foundation.