It is with great sorrow that we inform you of the passing of William “Bill” Waits Jr. on March 23, 2019. Bill passed peacefully after a yearlong fight with cancer. Bill graduated Elk Grove High School in 1968, attended Sacramento City College and CSU-Sacramento before enlisting in the Coast Guard. Bill trained as an aviation mechanic for rotary and fixed wing aircraft and was stationed at Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco. Bill was a founding member of SARWET, Sea Air Rotary Wing Evacuation Team, that would evolve into the current USCG rescue swimmer program. At the time this was one of only two rescue swimmer programs in the Coast Guard, the other in New York. When Bill left the USCG he went to work for the Sacramento Police Department. Bill retired from SPD in 2001 after working assignments in narcotics, detectives, marine, and patrol. Bill also worked as the Northern California Area Manager for Pyro Spectaculars after leaving the Coast Guard until 2001. Bill had a love for hunting, Bill, his son and several friends spent days together in duck blinds, walking fields for pheasants or shooting dove at the river. The group made trips to Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Wyoming for deer and elk hunting on a regular basis. In retirement, Bill became a private investigator primarily working work comp insurance fraud cases. Bill liked to stay active so he started volunteering for the Red Cross, riding his Harley with the Patriot Guard Riders, and started a motorcycle club, River City Harley Riders. Bill found a passion for volunteering with the Red Cross and deployed all over the country to countless disasters. Bill took on the responsibility of running the Sacramento Red Cross Supply Warehouse and became the director for the west coast region emergency response vehicles (ERV) that deploy to all incidents. Bill was awarded for his service to the Red Cross and thought of the other volunteers as his extended family. Bill spent the last year battling cancer and continued his service to the Red Cross up until last week. Bill is survived by his wife, Bayarma; his son, Brandon; Granddaughter, Mackenzie; father, Bill Sr.; sisters, Sandee and Chrissi.
Thank you to all who have reached out and supported us through these times.
Service information to follow.
Brandon.
