DR. BILL HAS DIED

[Ken Kurtis]

(You can post a note the family will see on Bill's FB page.)
This is from Bill's son Kevin:
It is with great sadness that I share with all my father Bill Bushing's friends, that his long battle with his multiple cancers came to an end this morning and he is finally at peace. To those that our family hasn't reached out to personally before this goes out I apologize that you learn of it this way but he has so many friends and touched so many people that its impossible for us to contact all before putting this out there. In the spirit of how he was, we know he would have put it here first anyways before calling anyone if he could have done it himself because he always updated Facebook first.
Hopefully he's diving now and finally finding his mermaid. We will have plans for celebration of life at a time to be determined later next year.
My ask of his friends now is if you have pictures or stories of how he touched your lives share them as a celebration to him. Thank you.

From me:
I'm very grateful that I got a chance to visit with Bill one last time in the hospital about two weeks ago. He was in fairly good spirits then despite the pain he was fighting. And as Kevin said, those of us who cared about Bill can find some solace in knowing that he has finally found peace. I'm sure we'll be doing some sort of remembrance of Bill during both the Cleanup and Chamber Eve in 2022. But hopefully he has touched many of you with his love of the ocean and specifically of Catalina and in that way, will live forever.

 

[boulderjohn]

This is truly devastating.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Truly Sad to hear. He will be missed and remembered as an icon in the diving realm. I enjoyed quite a few of his articles.

 

[Akimbo]

A legend is lost. Here is the thread in Passings.

RIP Dr. Bill

His son posted that Dr. Bill passed away after his long battle with cancer. Absolute legend, will miss seeing him out there. :(

scubaboard.com

 

[D_B]

Truly , Catalina has lost it's ambassador of goodwill

 

[Searcaigh]

A very sad day for the dive community

My condolences to his family and may he rest in peace.

 

[kelpmermaid]

Sad beyond words.

 

[merxlin]

I will miss seeing his smiling face and tattered wetsuit at the dive park. Always willing to talk, tell some stories, and discuss his search for the elusive mermaid. We lost a good man today.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

I will miss seeing his smiling face and tattered wetsuit at the dive park. Always willing to talk, tell some stories, and discuss his search for the elusive mermaid. We lost a good man today.

I met him many years ago and this sums it up perfectly.

 

[geoff w]

Sad doesn't even begin to express how I feel. I am so grateful for the time I spent with him, and will always cherish our interactions. I know he wasn't doing well toward the end, but selfishly wish he was still here with us. Dr. Bill touched so many lives, and will be sorely missed by all.