William "Bill" Owens passed peacefully at home on March 7, 2013 surrounded by his family, he had struggled heroically with Parkinson's for over eight years and is now at rest. Bill was born to Danna Jean Robson and William Gilbert Owens, Sr. on January 7, 1944 in Casa Grande, Ariz., where he lived until middle school when his family moved to Indio, Calif. He attended and graduated with the first graduating class of Indio High School, Class of 1962. He then proudly served his country and received honorable discharge from the Army, serving most of his time in Germany. After coming home from the Army in 1965 he attended College of the Desert and then went on to San Diego State University. During that time he worked at Bird Corporation in Palm Springs and Mercy Hospital in San Diego. After college he returned to Palm Springs with his family and went back to work for Bird Corp and stayed there moving up in the company to become their Vice President of Manufacturing, where he retired 33 years later. During his time at Bird Corp it went through many changes (3M, Viasys, Stackhouse) with Bill staying a valuable and necessary part of the team. He settled comfortably into Palm Springs and enjoyed his lifestyle of family bbq's around the pool, reading, movies and poker with friends. His life was simple, quiet, filled with love and simple pleasures. He will be sorely missed and always remembered with great love. He is preceded in death by father Bill Owens Sr., his step-father Cecil Robson, and his sons William "Billy" Owens and Gregory William Owens. He is survived by his mother Danna Jean Robson of Albuquerque, N.M., his sister Sheri Birkland of Redding, Calif., his stepbrother Mick Robson of Albuquerque, N.M., his stepsisters Lynn Slaten of Tucson, Ariz., and Beth Fader of Pittstown, N.J., his daughters Lori Owens of Santa Cruz, Calif., and Shawna Owens of Palm Springs, Calif., and his five grandchildren, Ryan DeLaCruz, Trenton William VanCamp, Brooklyn VanCamp, William "Jude" Sofranko and Paul Gregory Sofranko. A celebration of life will be held at Wiefels & Sons, 690 S. Vella Road in Palm Springs on Saturday March 16, 2013 at 2 p.m. with more celebration to follow at family's home in Palm Springs.