Walter William Ethier III “BILL”
Walter William Ethier, III, (Bill) of El Segundo, passed away February 3, 2023 at home surrounded by his
loving family. He was 74. Bill is survived by his beloved wife Michele “Mickie” (Maciupa) Ethier; they
celebrated their 50 th anniversary January 13 th .
As a child Bill’s family moved frequently, as Bill’s father was promoted, it meant a move, subsequently,
Bill grew up in Chatham, NJ, Atlanta, GA, and in 1965 settling in Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated high school
from Delbarton School, received a BS in Industrial Management from Villanova University, a Post-
baccalaureate degree at University of Pittsburgh (where he met his wife in Chem 11), and an MBA in
Management (Honors) from University of Southern California.
In 1973, after a 2 week journey of “parks and relative hopping,” Bill and Mickie arrived in Southern
California; it was October-sunny, warm and beautiful. Folks were running around in their shirt sleeves,
Bill said he really wanted to stay and not go back to Pittsburgh, where you had to dig the car out from
under the snow every day to go to work. This was the beginning of their life in sunny California.
Bill was hired by Gillette Co, Papermate Division as a Production Planner and left 12 years later as
Planning/Production Manager. From there he entered the world of software as the Operations Manager
for Monogram Software, then onto Promotions Distributor Services as their General Manager. He found
Peter Norton Computing, Inc. working as their Director of Operations, then moved to San Luis Obispo
with Xtree Company as VP of Operations commuting home on the weekends, from there he went on to
Central Point Software in Beaverton, OR as the Director of Operations and Manufacturing; finally ending
his software career back in Marina del Rey with Quarterdeck Corp as the Vice President of Worldwide
Operations. He was a well liked and respected member of each team known for his leadership skills and
problem solving. Bill consulted for a couple of years and then worked as a General Contractor. He took
handyman his skills with him to support Mickie as she volunteered at the El Segundo Women’s Club,
installing racks, hanging lights, fixing plumbing issues, creating new storage areas and building new
walls. Bill loved working around the house and “doing stuff,” rarely was he idle.
Bill was the epitome of patience, generosity, kindness and strength. Bill was a “hands on dad,” he
welcomed feeding, changing, and bathing his children. He would stay up all night caring for his girls or
grandchildren whether they had fevers, stomach bug or nightmares, he was right by their side. He
played an active part of their sports experiences and was there to help with homework as needed. Bill
prioritized and was devoted to his family. He coached his girls’ softball teams, was an avid fan at every
soccer game, track meet and cross country invitational. He made sure they were prepared for their Girl
Scout events. Bill helped with the daunting class projects, making the long treks for an in-person
experience for the research, including a family road trip to Santa Barbara for a mission project.
Bill loved fixing things around the house, his daughter’s Jennifer and Danielle kept him busy with their
“daddy do” list for when he came to visit. Bill travelled often to spend weeks and months at his
daughter’s homes to help finish projects around the house and spend time with his grandchildren. No
project was too big, even helping their wonderful neighbors. Bill was extremely innovative, a problem
solver, using the materials and tools on hand to fix anything, even going as far as to jury-rig appliances
to get a few more years out of them. He always found a solution, he just had to find the right path.
Bill’s strength was tested with the diagnosis of an aggressive metastatic prostate cancer. He spent the
last three years fighting an arduous battle while retaining his strong will to continue. Bill was fighting
until the end trying every last treatment to stay here with his family. He finally succumbed to his call home, he will be forever missed and remembered for his love, perseverance and generosity of spirit and
kindness.
Bill will be remembered as the loving father of his two daughters Jennifer Abbott (Justin) and Danielle
Greenleaf (Patrick), the doting grandfather of his six beautiful grandchildren Harper, Hudson, Erik,
Joshua, Hayden and Audrey, the cherished son of the late Walter William Ethier, Jr. and the late
Winifred (Land) Ethier. He is survived by his dear sister Mary Theresa Ethier (Paul) of FL, his devoted
younger brothers Michael (Elaine) of NC, James (Mercene) of MA, David of San Francisco, and many
nieces, nephews and cousins.
A funeral mass will be held on March 11, 2023 at 11:00 am at St. Anthony Catholic Church. In Bill’s honor
the rosary will be said before mass at 10:30am and all are welcome. A celebration of life will follow at
the El Segundo Women’s Club. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Prostate
Cancer Research-pcf.org, National Forest Foundation-nationalforests.org or Penny Pines through
National Garden Clubs-gardenclub.org.