William L. Sexauer
Obituary
William “Bill” Llewellyn Sexauer, 77, of Renton, Washington passed away July 1, 2023. Bill was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 8, 1945 to Paul and Betty Sexauer.
Most of Bill’s childhood was spent in Detroit, Michigan prior to his dad obtaining a job at Boeing and moving the family to Bellevue, Washington where Bill graduated from Sammamish High School in 1963. After attending MIT for a year, Bill returned to Washington State and worked part time at Boeing while earning a Chemistry degree at the University of Washington. After graduating from college, Bill stayed at Boeing working in electrical engineering for 46 years where he enjoyed working in both Commercial and Aerospace and received many awards. He was admired by his colleagues for his dedication, work ethic, kindness, and modesty despite his brilliant mind.
Both before and after retiring from Boeing, Bill served on the board of the Fairwood Firs Homeowners Association where he was especially appreciated for his service as treasurer for over 10 years. His attention to detail, thoroughness, and accuracy were only eclipsed by his honesty and sincerity.
Bill belonged to the Theta Xi Fraternity at both MIT and the University of Washington where he enjoyed the camaraderie and fraternity experience. He learned to sail while attending MIT and for many years enjoyed sailing with his father on his 22-foot sailboat.
Bill enjoyed traveling with his wife, especially when they attended pen shows throughout the U.S. and even one pen show in England. He belonged to the Seattle Pen Club where he was one of the most knowledgeable fountain pen collectors in the club and was always happy to share his knowledge with those who were new to this hobby. He loved showing people fountain pens from his amazing collection of over 600 pens, many of which were truly works of art. That is, he had over 600 before he donated 160 pens to the Sheaffer Pen Museum in Fort Madison, Iowa.
Bill was a Trekkie and for the holidays he enjoyed decorating his own Christmas tree with his large collection of Star Trek and Star Wars ornaments. Other hobbies included reading and listening to classical music, which he particularly enjoyed when there was a cat in his lap.
After a stroke and subsequently being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019, Bill did everything he could to try to keep his brain active. He still traveled some, read more than ever, put together many puzzles, and participated in numerous programs and activities including the Alzheimer’s Association’s weekly Memory Loss Zoo Walk where his fellow walkers enjoyed his big grins, pen collection and the sayings on his t-shirts.
Bill was predeceased by his father Paul, mother Betty and brother Bob. He is survived by his loving wife Rebecca of 44 years, 2 children Debra and Don (Lisa), 6 grandchildren Chris H (Heather), Amber, Myshelle (Mike), Chris D (Christie), Nick (Rachana) and Nathaniel (Bonnie) and 19 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a nephew Mark (Jordana) and niece Bridget and their children.
Bill will be deeply missed by his family and many friends, especially his wife, though the memories of what a dear sweet kind gentle loving husband he was will remain forever. A Celebration of Life for Bill will be held in August. For more information, contact Rebecca Randall. Placement will be at Washington Memorial Park, Sea-Tac Washington. To help fight the horrific disease of Alzheimer’s, donations in his name to the Alzheimer’s Association would be very much appreciated.
Bill was a wonderful friend for so many years. I have so many special memories but one that stands out so clearly to me was ushering in the New Year’s celebration of 2000. Bill, Becky, Bob, Donni, Barrie and I were at the Empress in Victoria and a big topic of conversation was what would happen when the year changed 😲
I remember Bill from my very early days at Boeing in the 1970s as I was the new kid helping design a new airplane wiring system, and Bill was an expert on testing of wiring. Always a nice guy, ready with a smile and laugh, a pleasure to be around.