William James (Bill) Hettrick passed away at the Fort St. John Hospital in British Columbia, Canada on May 1st, 2017 at the age of 75. He was born in Ronan, MT on March 9th, 1942 to Bill and Ann Hettrick. He moved with his family to the Bitterroot valley in 1950 attending schools in Corvallis and Hamilton. He graduated from Hamilton High School in 1961. In high school he excelled in sports, especially football and track. He was notable for participating in the Hamilton fair parade one fall, walking with a full beard of live honeybees.
Bill spent a lot of time working with his dad, and learning about the honeybee business. In 1967 he established his own beekeeping operation in Keremeos, British Columbia. In the mid 1970’s Bill moved north to Charlie Lake, BC where he met Sheila Davidson. They were married and raised two daughters, Jessie and Bekki. They later divorced. Bill worked in forestry and went back to school to become a carpenter. He worked in carpentry until his retirement.
In 1992, he began traveling to the Philippines during the winters. There he met and married Erdin Reyes and they have two sons, Billy and Jimmy. In 2015, he was able to bring his family from the Philippines to Canada. He was very happy to finally have all of his children together.
Bill is survived by his wife Erdin, his children Jessie, Bekki, Billy and Jimmy, his grandchildren, Brooklyn and Beau, brother Gary and nephew Jack Davison. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Shirli Safko and Marty Davison.
A memorial service was held on May 8th in a beautiful park in Fort St. John where family and friends recalled their favorite memories of this kind and gentle man.