Bill Pender

    Bill Pender, a longtime Gila Valley resident and businessman, passed away on Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, after a lengthy illness. Viewings are scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, at the McDougal’s Caldwell Funeral Chapel in Safford and at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Solomonville LDS church prior to funeral services at 10 a.m. He will be laid to rest next to his wife Norma Lee at the Tucson South Lawn Cemetery at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
   Bill was born in Tucson on Jan. 7, 1926, the only child of his parents, Kenneth and Edith Wachter Pender.
   After graduation from Tucson High School, Bill immediately joined the Navy to do his share in the war. He served with great honor in World War II’s South Pacific Theatre, where his ship was torpedoed and sank.
   When the war was over, he met a Safford girl who had gone to Tucson to work at Davis Monthan Air Base during the war. Bill and Norma Lee Montierth were wed on May 24, 1947, at a ceremony held in Safford. They made their home in Tucson, where Bill was employed as a Tucson fireman, following in his father's footsteps, who also was a retired Tucson fireman. Having been raised as the son of a fireman, Bill quite quickly rose through the ranks of the department and was promoted to the position of department captain.
   Following several years of service with the Tucson Fire Department, Bill and his father partnered together to purchase a business in Holbrook. In 1961, Bill moved his family to Holbrook, where they ran the family business, which was one of the largest commercial laundry/linen supply and uniform operations in all of Arizona. His business served the entire northeastern quarter of the state.
   In 1978, Bill and Norma sold the business and moved back to Tucson for a couple of years. Then in 1980, he and Norma moved to Safford so they could assist in caring for Norma's aging parents. Bill purchased the Tower Mobile Park, and he and his son, Mike owned and operated the Tower Mobile Park and Pender's RV Store until 2006, when the business was sold and Bill finally retired.
   Survivors include his two children, Barbara (Neil) DeWitt and Michael (Patti) Pender, both of Safford. He was also blessed with six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
    He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife of 56 years, Norma Lee Montierth Pender.
   The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, any desired donations be made to the American Cancer Society to further its research efforts in order to better help those in need.