Obituary: Thomas, William Wetzel “Bill”
Age 86
A memorial service will be held Saturday, August 16th, 11am, at the LDS Church, 2112 W. Francis, Spokane, WA.
He was born March 11th, 1928 to Bill and Lucille Thomas in Pocatello, Idaho.
Bill was the second of two children in his family.
His father was a salesman and his mother was a homemaker.
Bill was a fun loving student throughout his growing up years.
He was a cheerleader at Provo High School where he graduated in 1945.
He then joined the navy during the last few months of World War II.
During his one year in the navy, he was called on to be a cheerleader at the Navy football games.
Afterward, he attended the University Of Utah and obtained a degree in business.
While at the University of Utah, Bill was the head cheerleader and took notice of a lovely co-ed by the name of Margaret McQuarrie.
After having a friend make introductions they began to date.
Bill and Marg were married in March 1951 While in Salt Lake, Bill and Margaret started their family and had three children.
The oldest was Cecelia, the next a boy, Bruce and the youngest was Robert.
Bill worked for Firestone as a store manager in Salt Lake City, Utah and Tacoma, Washington.
Bill then took a sales job for a clothing manufacturer that took the family to Des Moines, Iowa and then on to Spokane, Washington.
A couple of years after arriving in Spokane Bill and Margaret purchased a small candy company and renamed it Spokandy.
The Thomas family ran and worked Spokandy for the next 20 years, selling the business in the 1980s.
After selling Spokandy, Bill taught at Spokane Falls Community College for over 20 years.
Bill taught several business classes where he helped many students write their business plans and saw many students launch successful businesses.
Bill was a long time member of the Spokane chapter of Rotary International and served as its chapter’s president in 1984.
To recognize his continuous service, Bill was selected as a Paul Harris Fellow which is a lifetime achievement recognition bestowed by Rotary International.
His interests included family, church service and reading.
Mr. Thomas is survived by a daughter and her spouse, Cecelia and Terry McClure; two sons and their spouses, Bruce and Patty Thomas and Rob and Monta Thomas; and 10 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.