Bill was born to Jacob and Anna Zive in Chicago, Illinois on July 20, 1929 and raised there. He attended both the University of Illinois and Northwestern University before leaving the city of his birth to marry Patricia Burns and start their family in Reno, Nevada at the age of 20. He returned with his growing family to Chicago for a few years before moving to California (the first time) to take a position as a chemist with the U.S. Borax and Chemical Company.
In his 35 years working for U.S. Borax, the Zive family moved from Anaheim, California to Atlanta and Tucker, Georgia and on to Peekskill, New York before returning to California in 1974. Following "Borax Bill's" retirement from U.S. Borax as Director of production and distribution at the beginning of the 1990s, Bill and Pat relocated from Thousand Oaks to Coronado, California, where he lived out the final quarter century of his life.
An avid golfer until arthritis robbed him of the ability to swing a club in his late seventies, Bill played in most states in the USA, in Mexico and Canada, and on three continents. He spent countless hours on the golf course doing business and socializing, as well as connecting with his daughter Marty and his three sons, Robert, Paul and Richard.
In addition to his loving wife and four children, Bill is survived by three daughters-in-law (Tammy, Cyndie and Wendy), three grandchildren (Gayle, Amanda and Jacob) and one great-grandson (Gavin) He was preceded in death by his parents, his older brother Simon, and one grandchild (Samantha).
In accordance with Bill and Pat's wishes, there will be no memorial service. In lieu of flowers, friends and family are asked to make donations in his memory to the Humane Society of the United States or the San Diego Rescue Mission.
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