In Loving Memory

William Lloyd "Bill" Small Sr.

William (Bill) Lloyd Small went home to his heavenly family on September 20th 2021 at the age of 99. He was the last surviving member of his family.

He was born September 1, 1922 in Elkhart Kansas to Sherman Curtis Small and Grace Pearl (Craver) Small; he was the third of six children.

At a very young age Bill was interested in horses, an interest that he maintained throughout his life.

Also at a young age he bought chickens, pigs and cows. He earned money to buy the feed by milking the neighbor's cows, scraping bark from trees, selling vegetables in town and working a paper route.

He belonged to 4-H, a drama club called Mask and Mirror, and was a Boy Scout. He later served as a Boy Scout Leader for many years.

Because times were hard, Bill spent most of his childhood moving with his family following work opportunities. They finally arrived in Paonia, Colorado where work was steady. Bill attended school from the 8th grade until he graduated in 1940 with a full ride scholarship in Drama and Theater. His desire to be a cowboy was stronger than his desire for acting.

After graduation, and until he enlisted in the Marines, Bill worked and played at Ragged Mountain in Gunnison, Colorado and on "The Muddy". He spoke of The Muddy fondly through out his life.

Bill served as an anti air craft gunner in the South Pacific during WWII, from 1942 until 1945 when he received an honorable discharge. He joined the Marines before being drafted because he wanted to choose his branch of service.  He never spoke much about his time in the service but he was very patriotic and loved this country.  When people thanked him for his service he was uncomfortable and said "I only did what was right." Returning from the war his main priority was finding a house and a wife to share it with, and forget about the war.

He did just that he married Maurine Long on June 20th 1947. In 1953 Bill and Maurine along with their two daughters moved to Seattle, Washington, where he worked for Boeing for several years before joining the logging industry as a faller.

In 1966 the much larger family moved to Deer Park. He worked at Kaiser Aluminum for several years but the call to be a rancher/ cowboy was still in his heart.  He then moved the family to Inchelium where they resided for several years before moving to Oroville.  Bill eventually settled in Fruitland where he resided for over 24 years.

Despite earnest efforts to get ahead in life through hard work and determination his dream to own a ranch and be a cowboy never came to fruition.

He worked hard to support his family of nine children. He was a jack of all trades and had many skills. He took education seriously and his children all graduated from High School and most went on to college.

He enjoyed reading, riding horses, fishing, hunting and spending time with his family. His family brought him his greatest happiness. He loved being at the big family gatherings for Christmas, Easter and his yearly Birthday camp outs.

The grandkids loved to sit and listen to his stories; he lived many years and saw many things so he had lots of tales to tell.

Bill was proud of his family and said so often. He is survived by six children Laura Sigmund, Bill Small, Helen (Scott) Ray, Teresa (Jay) Hawkins, Ben (Jen) Small and Aaron Small.

He was preceded in death by four children Lloyd Dean, Sandra Jean, Carrie Mae and Craig Vernon and two granddaughters Sara Small and Krystal Sigmund.  He leaves behind 21 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren.

Bill is dearly loved and will be missed more than words can say.

"No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle."