It will be five years in July 2018 since Bill passed away. He is missed every day by his friends and family having succumbed to heart and liver failure after open heart surgery and a relatively brief illness. Bill was a devoted husband and father to our two children, Kristen Pierson and Bill Jr as well as an adoring grandfather to our three granddaughters, Bessie, Emily and Annabelle Pierson.  As as he did in high school where we were high school sweethearts, he lived life to the fullest. He spent his professional life in the aviation insurance industry for over 40 years where he was well known for his expertise and knowledge. An avid aviator himself, his passion for flying never left him, passing down that love to the many students he taught to fly at Sky Harbor Airport in Northbrook. Flying wasn’t his only passion, he also became an accomplished skeet shooter joining the Palos Sportsman’s Club and The Peninsula Shooting Club in Door County Wisconsin.  He helped other shooters become more proficient in the sport and in the late 60’s was an instructor with the NRA. His love for the sport rubbed off on our son and in later years Bill Jr and his Dad spent many weekends shooting together and entering tournaments.  Athletic in in high school and college, Bill continued with his love of sports including tennis and racquetball but golf quickly became his sport of choice when we both took it up in our late 30’s. Every place we traveled from Pebble Beach to the Carolinas, Arizona and Florida, our clubs were the first thing we packed. We were fortunate to play several courses that were/are on the PGA Tour plus mountain courses in Montana and Colorado.  Bill also coached our son in little league baseball and football while our daughter took after her Dad with tennis and track. Our family had an active lifestyle and we deeply miss that interaction with Bill. His friends will best remember him for his intellect, interest in the Arts, dry and sometimes caustic sense of humor, along with his love of sports.  Everything he did, he did with a passion. We were married for 48.5 years when he died but knew each other for 52 years. Like our other classmates who were high school sweethearts and enjoyed long term marriages, we had a friendship, love and passion that endured and can never be replaced. Thank you Bill for such a good life together.