Wild Bill

“Wild Bill’, William Allen James, age 89, passed away peacefully at St. Luke’s Hospital in Nampa, Idaho after a brief illness on October 6, 2021. Bill was born on April 14, 1932, in Dixon, Illinois to Earl and Edna (Weyant) James. Bill was the second oldest of six children. His father Earl was the local tavern owner, and his mother Edna was a homemaker. Bill served in the United States Army during the Korean War, which allowed him to pay for his college education upon his discharge. He graduated from Creighton University in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He started his career as an educator in Omaha, Nebraska, teaching high school English in 1960 and retired from the Grant Union High School District in 1987, in Sacramento, California. Bill met Patricia ‘Patti’ Lee Connor in the early 1964 while both were teaching at Grant High School. They were married on June 26, 1965. Their son, Christopher was born in 1966 and their daughter Janet followed in 1969. Patti passed away in December of 2014 of Breast Cancer. Bill loved baseball and was a diehard Chicago White Sox fan. He also enjoyed reading, history, and traveling the United States with his family on long summer vacations. Bill was an avid photographer specializing in 3D photography. Bill held the record for being the longest living James in his family lineage. He was proceeded in death by his wife, Patti James; parents, Earl and Edna James of Dixon, Il; brothers Gerald James (Marge) and Thomas James (Maureen) of Dixon, Il; sister Susan Lordi (George) of Edison, NJ; and sister Janet Bruce (Bob) of Joppa, MD. Bill is survived by his son, Chris James and wife Laurie of Missoula, Montana; his daughter Janet Martin and husband William Patrick of Nampa, Idaho; and a sister, Cathy Prescott (Mark) of Wisconsin. Bill will be cremated with arrangements being made through Zeyer Funeral Home in Nampa, Idaho. Bill’s children will hold a private service.