William Woodmansee

William Daniel Woodmansee was born to William and Pearl (Gaylord) Woodmansee in Red Bluff, California on August 2, 1924. He died February 28, 2017 in Chico, California. He was child number five of ten (Orville June, Frank Jess, Loris, William, Iola, James, Frederick, Edwin and Donald). When Bill was 10 the family moved to Chico where his father had his own printing business. Bill finished school, graduating from Chico High School in 1942. In 1942 he joined the Army and was stationed in San Angelo, TX where he served as a private and also pitched for the Army baseball team. He served for 8 months and was honorably discharged for health reasons. Bill loved baseball and fast pitch softball and he played both growing up and into his young adulthood. He was proud to share that he was on a National championship fast pitch softball team. The Giants were his team in good years and not so good. Bill spent his entire career in the printing business working in Red Bluff, Chico and the San Jose area. He was a typesetter. He worked for the Enterprise-Record, San Jose Mercury News and the Rosicrucian Order. He also was a typesetter for a Spanish language newspaper. Bill chose to retire from the printing business when computers became the mainstay. Bill liked popular music and became interested in playing the electronic organ so he could play the music he enjoyed. Through the years he owned several different organs. The last three that he owned were a large Wurlitzer, a small Hammond and an electronic keyboard. He went on several cruises that featured people who liked to play organs and he had a chance to perform. Bill was married to Jean (Hanson) Woodmansee in 1944 and together they had two children, Diane Passig, now living in Ohio and James Woodmansee, now living in southern California. In the 80's Bill moved to Paradise from the Bay area. At that time he was single. In 1988 Bill met Lena Ratassepp and they enjoyed music that became a center piece of their life. They were married on January 6, 1989 at First Lutheran Church in Orland, California. Lena left Orland and Bill left Paradise and they lived in Chico the rest of their lives. In the early years of their marriage they traveled Western States and Canada to share the music they played in retirement homes, many of which are here in Chico. They retired in 2000 but continued to play locally until 2008. When they no longer played publicly you could hear them playing from time to time in their apartment at Sycamore Glen. When Bill married Lena he became stepfather to five children, Denton, Bette, Judy, Bill and Lembit. Bill became a member of the Lutheran Church when he married Lena and they were both members at Faith Lutheran in Chico. Services will be held at Faith Lutheran Church, 667 East First Avenue, Chico California on Monday March 20 at 10 am. A light luncheon will follow the service. The family of Bill Woodmansee is deeply grateful for the support that Bill was provided from Faith Lutheran, Prestige Assisted Living and Butte Home Health and Hospice.