William "Bill" Hackman

With shattered hearts we announce the passing of a wonderful, loving husband and father, William Kenton Hackman on May 24, 2026. He leaves behind his wife, Deanna and daughter Holly and now joins his son, K.C. Hackman, who preceded him to heaven in 2014. He is also survived by a niece, Tracy Hackman in Alabama and many in-laws here in California.

Bill was born in Decatur, Illinois on December 15, 1942 to Frank and Doris Hackman and his older brother, Lynn. In 1958, his family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee where he finished his senior year of high school playing football and showed his acting talent in the senior play. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. He was a class officer every year displaying his leadership skills. Playing the guitar & banjo led to the formation of a quartet at college called “The Taverneers”. They went on to win the school talent contest with their folk songs and ad-lib humor, which, Bill himself, had a hilarious, witty sense of humor.

After graduation he joined the Marine Corp and spent 13 months in the jungle of Vietnam. He was an avionics officer and earned the rank of Captain. Just before leaving the Marines in 1968 he met a young teacher named Deanna and they fell in love and married in 1969. Bill’s first engineering position was with Lockheed Martin, but in 1971 he took a position with Northrup Corporation in Newbury Park, where he became a Program Manager. After retiring from Northrup, he continued working in aerospace becoming a Senior Program Manager in advanced aerospace technologies.

Bill was very artistic and creative and displayed his talents through a variety of hobbies. Tinkering in the garage was a favorite pastime including refurbishing an old ‘50 Merc and working on all his cars and dirt bikes. Building anything & everything out of wood was his

specialty, even building his own guitar. Joining the neighbor’s band allowed him to continue singing and playing his guitar. He had a passion for cooking and entered the Chili Cook Off many years with other engineer friends with being awarded the top prize one year. Through his love of cooking and engineering, he and a fellow engineer created a cooking product named Bella Cooper.

Bill was deeply loved by all and appreciated for every minute that we spent with him and words cannot express how much we will miss him. Our hearts are broken and life will never be the same without him.

A Memorial will be held at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Cemetery on June 27th at 2 p.m