William Leonard Stevens

Bill was born on November 12, 1933, to Rosadell Leora Nutley (Stevens) and Edward William Parsons in Spokane, Washington. Rosadell was a true “Rosie the Riveter” working on aircraft assembly lines in the Los Angeles area during World War II. Later she served as the first Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Kennewick Irrigation District (KID), the first women to be elected to such a position in a predominant male-led industry. Edward was a police officer for 40 years in Spokane, eventually rising to Chief of Police from 1967-1970.

Bill’s parents divorced early on, and he spent his formative years living with his grandparents on Liberty Lake near Spokane. When he was 16 years old, he reunited with his mother in the Tri-Cities, graduating from Kennewick High School in 1951, where he lettered in football, baseball, and basketball.

Bill attended Central Washington College (now University) where he met and married the love of his life Barbara June Tupper of Yakima in 1954. Their son William Jr was born in 1956 and proudly served in the USAF. The couple would remain together 65 years until Barbara’s death in 2019. After graduating with a B.A. in Mathematics, Bill was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force in 1956.

His first assignments were to Navigator school, Survival school, and B-47 Combat Crew Training in Texas and California. After graduation he was assigned to the 9th Bomb Wing at Mt Home AFB flying as a navigator in B-47’s. In 1962 he was hand-picked to upgrade to the B-58 Hustler, an elite new bomber requiring the best and most experienced crewmembers. The B-58 was the world’s first supersonic bomber, capable of Mach-2, twice the speed of sound. Once selected he completed training and transferred to the 305th Bomb Wing at Bunker Hill AFB (now Grissom) in Indiana.

After eight years as a Navigator in strategic combat aircraft, Bill volunteered for a career change and was selected by the Air Force to transition to the rapidly developing computer science field. He attended Texas A&M University and obtained a master’s degree in computer science in 1966. Bill was then assigned to the Pentagon where he applied advanced computer technology to war game models in support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff wargaming agency. He returned to Texas A&M in 1969 and obtained a PhD in Computer Science in 1971.

At this point, his computer science career was interrupted by the war in Vietnam. The Air Force was critically short of navigators to support combat operations. After completing water and jungle survival training, he reported to his new post in early 1972, with the 362TEWS at Da Nang Air Base flying in the EC-47 Signals Intelligence aircraft. After flying Mach-2 in the B-58 he was now flying in a propeller-driven, defenseless, converted airliner which first flew in the 1930’s. Despite many obstacles the 362TEWS and its sister squadrons flying the EC-47 provided excellent intelligence on enemy units.

Bill returned to the U.S. after a year flying the friendly skies of Vietnam and was assigned to Peterson AFB, Colorado, as the single manager responsible for operations, acquisition, budgeting and accountability for all computer assets in support of the NORAD mission providing worldwide warning and surveillance.

Bill’s final military assignment was Scott AFB, Illinois, where he was responsible for standardizing computer systems across the Air Force.

After retiring from the Air Force in 1979 he joined the Boeing Co. in Seattle, where he worked for the next 12 years. In this position he was program manager for many highly classified computer systems, including those on the B-2 bomber and F-22 fighter aircraft.

In 1991 Bill retired from Boeing and with his wife Barbara and two Brittany Spaniels moved to Yakima.

From 1994 to 2014, Bill led the volunteer Yakima County AARP Foundation Tax-Aide organization providing free tax-filing help to seniors and medium and low-income families. Over 20 years this volunteer service helped return more than $20 million to Yakima area tax filers. Beginning with a handful of volunteers and laptops, through hard work and perseverance, Bill grew the local organization to include seven tax-preparation sites from Ellensburg to Goldendale supported by 60 volunteers. In some years, the Yakima County Tax-Aide group processed more tax returns than any other volunteer tax organization in the state of Washington.

Bill was a founding member of the American Air Museum in Britain, located in Duxford, England

He was an avid golfer with a near scratch handicap, shooting a score under his age (no small feat) multiple times and scoring two hole-in-ones. He also liked to hunt ducks and pheasants near Yakima.

Bill is survived by his son William L. Stevens, Jr. (Celine), USAF (Ret) of Maui, Hawaii, three grandchildren, Michael, Katherine, and Megan Stevens of Maui, one nephew and three nieces -- Deborah Bryant (Light) Mesa, Arizona; Daniel Tupper (Patti) Las Vegas, Nevada; Mary Busch (Rob) Essex Junction, Vermont; and Sonya Parsons Scottsdale, Arizona.

Visitation will be held at Keith & Keith Funeral Home, 902 West Yakima Ave, Yakima, WA 98902, US, on May 26, 2026, from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  

A graveside service will be held at Tahoma Cemetery, 1802 Tahoma Ave, Yakima, WA 98902, US, on May 27, 2026, at 11:00 am.