William "Bill" Banta, Jr.

William "Bill" Murrell Banta Jr. was born in Hollywood, California on January 11, 1949 to proud parents Mary Verena and William Murrell Banta Sr. Bill was raised an only child but enjoyed summers being a part of a large Catholic extended family - many cousins - on the lakes of Minnesota. When Bill was 10 years old, he devastatingly lost his father in a plane crash. His mother passed away only 8 years later. The impact of losing his parents so young was large. Because he was without much immediate family Bill created his own in his close friendships that spanned decades and states. He loved his friends as if they were family. Bill attended St. Bruno Catholic school (Whittier, Ca), then graduated high school from La Serna, also in Whittier in 1967. Bill married his first wife Shari Joy Welch (Cassara) in 1968 and they welcomed Meagan Violet Banta (Wilson) into the world in November of 1971. In 1977 Bill married his second wife Mary Ann Barrett (Banta). They celebrated 41 years of marriage this past October. Meagans mother and step-father relocated to Seattle in 1979. Having lost his dad at such a young age, it was so very important to Bill to be in Meagans life. He always wanted to be a "good dad". Being a child of divorced parents that lived about 40 miles apart, Meagan often wished her parents lived closer. She got her wish in 1980 as Bill and Mary also relocated up to Seattle to make it their home. They decided to all move in together sharing a home with Meagan, her mom and step-dad for 4 years. Many memories were made from this unique arrangement - at the time, many people did not understand the melding of the 2 families, where now eclectic combinations of families are quite common. Bill was passionate about music. This led him to attend broadcasting school where he aspired to become a disc jockey. He was always up to date with the latest artists and made frequent visits to Tower Records and Peaches Music were amongst his favorites to collect new albums. He was a huge fan of Queen, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, and Squeeze. He was always on the lookout for new songs and loved discovering new bands with his granddaughter Veronica, to add to his iPod iTunes collection. Bill always had a love for cars. From his first 1967 Camaro to his 2015 VW Golf R, and countless in between - he often said he wished he could have kept every one of them. Some of his favorites were his 1969 VW Bug "Baxter", his 1998 VW GTI VR6 "Gunther" and his 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV "Mr. Alfa". Back in 1974, he had a 1972 Alfa that was going to need a big repair, so instead he came home with the replacement LeMans Blue - forever known by many as "The Blue Alfa". Bill was one of the first in the neighborhood to own a radar detector, as his love of fast cars also came with a few speeding tickets! Bill grew up loving sports - playing them, watching them, and collecting sports memorabilia. For several years in the 70s he and his buddies would play Sunday morning over- the- line, later they moved on to organized softball teams (in So. Cal Reliance Dairy and Armadillos, in Seattle Goldies and Caster Oilers) and had many season winning trophies over the years. Bill was always an infielder (2nd base or shortstop) and had a great throwing arm. He was a solid up-the-middle base hitter, always coming through in clutch situations. Volleyball was another favorite sport. Indoor or outdoor, he would dive, spike, and he had a killer serve. This was also true with tennis. Singles with buddies, or doubles with his wife Mary and other couples they were close with. Bill also loved bowling and got involved with league play back in the 80s. He was a very good bowler. One time Bill picked up a 7-10 split - funny thing though, he didnt think he had a chance at it, so he turned around once he let the ball go and missed seeing it! His teammates started cheering; the look on his face was priceless! For many, many years Bill played poker with his friends. If It was "dealer's choice" Bill was famous for just about always choosing Anaconda - how many cards do you get? "As many as it takes!" Bills latest past time was ping-pong. He enjoyed playing without keeping score which allowed for long rallies and lots of laughs, while of course, listening to his favorites on his iPod. Bill liked sport teams, but more specifically he loved individual players like Reggie Miller, Jorge Orta, Bobby Abreu, and Jose Altuve. Hed "follow" the player he liked from team to team. Once the Indiana Pacers were playing in Seattle. Bill and Mary went to the home team game and sat in Sonic seats given to them by a big Sonic supporter. They even went so far to wear Reggie Miller jerseys. The Sasquatch mascot gave them a bad time about rooting for the Pacers. Bill was thrilled when Reggie saw them from across the arena and gave them a salute and a wave! Another love of Bills was his 4-legged furry kids. Guinevere, Joan, Bob, Rosie, Monte, Winnie, Eddie, Quinn, and Corbin. He enjoyed daily haunts around the neighborhood with his dogs. Bill was never far from his pets, often vacationing with them along. A special favorite was the beach at Moclips where the Bantas basically had a standing reservation at the dog friendly hotel! Bill loved the sun, and the beach was his happy place. He could be seen walking barefoot in the sand at Ocean Shores even in the dead of winter. He loved the feel of sand on his toes. Bill is survived by wife, Mary Ann (Barrett) Banta, daughter, Meagan Violet Banta Wilson, 4 beautiful grand girls, Veronica Gina Wilson, Rio Violet Wilson, Georgia Robin Wilson, and Frances Victoria Wilson. He was always surrounded by adoring females, and he passed peacefully with his wife, former wife, daughter, and niece by his side. A Celebration of Life will be hosted on January 12, 2019. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice or to Bills favorite, the animal rescue organization that brought sweet Quinn into our lives - Motley Zoo https://www.motleyzooanimalrescue.org