William West

William (Bill) Dana West of Overland Park, Kansas. Bill West passed away after a brief illness on July 1st, 2010 at Kansas City Hospice House, age 93 years. The son of the late Katherine (Hanson) West and Oscar West, he was born October 11, 1916 in Tacoma, Washington. He grew up in California and spent most of his youth in Hollywood, where his mother worked as a seamstress for MGM. Mr. West graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with a degree in Business Management. Throughout the 50’s and 60’s, he worked as a management consultant for Ernst and Ernst (now known as Ernst and Young), and then became a manager for Cook Paint in Kansas City, where he worked until his retirement in the late 70’s. He served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy during World War II, stationed in the Pacific on the U.S.S. Hilarity. He was predeceased by his wife of sixty years, Louise (Gillespie) West, who passed away in 2006. He is survived by his son Kenneth and daughter-in-law Mary (Jaskiewicz) West of San Francisco, CA.

Bill was an extremely modest and practical man, who took pride in managing his finances online. Up until the onset of his illness a few weeks ago, he actively followed global and national political events and enjoyed discussing the latest news items with his son. He relished his independence and had planned to renew his driver’s license again later this year. One of his pleasures was communicating with family and friends on the Internet. Friends are invited to a brief memorial service in his behalf in the chapel at the Kansas City Hospice House on Friday, July 9th at 11:00 a.m. Share a memory, sign an online guestbook, or express your condolences at www.overlandparkchapel.com

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