William "Bill" Thornton Cavender

Bill was a lifelong Seattleite, born on July 25, 1930, at King County Hospital. He attended Garfield High School, and then Seattle University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in the first Accounting class offered. After graduating, he was drafted into the Korean War where he was eventually assigned to the Alaska Communication Corps and stationed in Seattle.

He began dating Sally-Ruth MacDonald in 1958 and they married in May of 1964. He began his private accounting practice that same year. A year later, their eldest daughter, Laura, was born and on New Years Day in 1969 they were greeted with twins, Amy and Paul – just in time to miss the tax deduction for the year to the eternal amusement of dad’s friends and fellow CPA acquaintances. Bill continued his solo practice while also working at Hallidie Machinery Company as their CFO.

Bill was a long-time member of the University Lions Club where he and Sally were always willing to raise their paddle to bid at the annual charity auction – sometimes even overbidding each other. Bill was also on the board of Listen and Talk, a listening and spoken language service for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Bill loved to fish (even better if he actually caught some!), to educate people on the benefits of saving and of investing in the stock market, and especially enjoyed a glass of “good chardonnay”. He figured “you can always say something nice about a bottle of wine . . . at least it poured well”.

He is preceded in death by his wife Sally and his sister Jane Holleman. He is survived by his children Laura (Alan) Spring, Amy (Brook) Anderson and Paul (Lisa Rongren) Cavender, as well as his grandchildren Reid and Katie Anderson and Meghan and Evan Spring and his companion of many years, Mary Neumeister. He was well and truly loved and will be missed.

There will be a celebration of his life on Sunday, November 5th, from 12:00 – 3:00 at Dukes in South Lake Union, 1111 Fairview Avenue N in Seattle.

In lieu of flowers, if you would like to make a donation please send it to the University-Ballard Lions Foundation. Donations can be sent c/o Paula Williams, P.O. Box 33751, Seattle, WA, 98133