Known for his adventurous spirit, visionary mindset, witty humor, and genuine warmth, William “Bill” Eugene Jacox—named for his two grandfathers—was born on June 6, 1972 in suburban Seattle, Washington, where he was welcomed by his mother Kathy, his father Randy, and his big sister, three-year old Teri. 

Bill’s commitment to independence came on his first day of kindergarten at Gregory Heights Elementary School in his hometown of Burien, Washington, when his teacher urged the parents to ask their children what name they wanted to go by, cautioning that whatever name they came into school with, they’d carry for life. “Billy,” as he’d been known up to that moment, looked his mom square in the eye and declared himself to be Bill. The teacher’s warning proved correct.  

Bill soon found his niche in sports, taking easily to soccer, baseball, and basketball, and learning quickly under his dad’s coaching. When he was finally old enough to play junior football, he was so excited to receive his own set of pads and a helmet that he refused to take them off. He fell asleep on the couch—sitting up and still fully padded. As a teenager he shifted his focus to swimming, racing for two different private swim teams. His parents were relieved when Teri got her driver’s license and took on the responsibility of getting them both to their pre-sunrise practices. At Highline High School he swam Varsity all four years, carrying many a relay race and qualifying for the state meet his Junior and Senior years. As a Political Science and Business Administration major at the University of Puget Sound, Bill rowed for the Varsity Crew Team. A standout on all his teams, Bill was a humble winner, a disciplined athlete, and a teammate everyone could depend on. He was a thoughtful, innovative leader who inspired and supported everyone he competed with.  

It was while he was still in elementary school, however, when the seeds were planted for a passion that would come to be one of his most defining characteristics. A fellow congregant at the family’s church recommended they join the Washington Alpine Club at Snoqualmie Pass, and Bill discovered skiing. It was the beginning of his love for outdoor adventure, a love that grew to encompass almost every possible method of moving from point A to point B in the Great Outdoors. He ran and hiked and camped, taking a backpacking trip to celebrate his high school graduation, going rock climbing every weekend in college, and pedaling for miles through Washington’s roads and trails alike. He set his sights on mountaineering, starting with summiting Mt. Rainier and then moving on to mountains all over the world. His love for skiing continued, and at Crystal Mountain, in the Cascades, he served as a ski patrolman and a volunteer ski instructor for people who are paraplegic. He pioneered Outward Bound hikes in Alaska and Colorado and led sea-kayaking expeditions in Baja California, and he served as a guide on wilderness expeditions with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).

Always equipped with the right pair of shoes and a superhuman abundance of energy, Bill could be found out in front on every mountain he biked or hiked, chatting happily, always encouraging others to go farther, faster, his appreciation of the journey infectious. He continued his swim-team pattern of rising early, regularly completing long runs or bike rides before anyone else was stirring, and then happily heading back out once his companions were finally up and ready.

Bill’s love of adventure found another outlet in travel, though it was not without a price—while in his mid-twenties, he missed his first family Christmas while on a kayaking trip in Mexico. He returned home with a renewed understanding of how much he valued his family’s traditions and company. The feeling was mutual, and as Bill went on to travel extensively, Randy and Kathy would come visit him wherever he was living, including in South Korea, where he taught conversational English, picking up a black belt in taekwondo in the meantime. 

When he turned 30, he landed a four-month position working as a Resident Director on board a ship for Semester at Sea, an adventure that would take him around the globe, through fifteen countries. During the voyage, as one of the lone eligible bachelors amongst the faculty, administrators, and support staff, Bill had no shortage of attention. His own attention, however, quickly narrowed in on one particular colleague: Sunny Lee, who soon found herself on the receiving end of Pablo Neruda recitations out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Soon thereafter Bill called home and shared a simple but profound message with his parents: “I’ve met someone.” Two years later he proposed to Sunny on the Great Wall of China, with two matching red bands he’d purchased at a souvenir shop.

Bill and Sunny married on Sunday, August 7, 2005—outside, of course—in Fullerton, California, with much joy and dancing, including a well-rehearsed ballroom dance. After the wedding, they continued taking salsa and swing dance classes. As a couple, Bill and Sunny enjoyed talking about the latest in politics, hosting backyard BBQs, trying new restaurants, watching Shonda Rhimes shows, and traveling throughout the US & around the world. Back in Irvine, California, in 2008, they welcomed a son, Alex. Three years later they went on another trip with Semester at Sea—this time with two-year-old Alex in tow. Soon thereafter they moved to northern California, settling in El Cerrito, where Bill took a position with a team-building company called Adventure Associates. A daughter, Serena, followed soon after in 2012. Bill and Sunny revelled in co-parenting—Bill loved being a father! Fittingly, as a family of four now, they returned in 2017 for one more Semester-at-Sea voyage where Bill co-directed the childcare program aboard the ship.

A loving partner and deeply involved parent, Bill participated in work days at El Cerrito Preschool Cooperative and Crestmont Cooperative Elementary School and attended Dads’ Club work parties at Hilltop Elementary School. Back at home he outfitted the backyard with all the accoutrements that any kid—or he himself!—could ask for: a slide that emerges from a redwood tree, a trampoline, a clubhouse, monkey bars, swings, and a pool. Legendary backyard birthday parties ensued, where Bill somehow managed to produce mounds of delicious food from the grill, distribute bottles of beer from his varied and plentiful collection, and bounce the kids on the trampoline, with never the slightest crack in his laid-back demeanor nor ever-present sense of humor.

In Alex and Serena, Bill gained two new adventure companions. He taught them both to ski as toddlers, favoring South Lake Tahoe’s Kirkwood because it reminded him of his home range, the Cascades. Not long after the training wheels came off their bikes, the kids found themselves being towed to the top of some of the area’s best singletrack descents. Their camping and boating expeditions were so well-planned and capacious that they drew in entire other families, who’d find themselves hiking Yosemite’s waterfalls or canoeing down the Russian River, the lucky recipients of Bill’s foresight, coordination, and generous nature. 

Alex describes his dad as being sarcastic and loving desserts—desserts that would mysteriously disappear overnight after Bill had “cleaned” the refrigerator! Alex's favorite activities with his dad included canoe camping, skiing, and biking with the El Cerrito Junior Mountain Biking Team. Serena describes her dad as energetic and funny. Boogie boarding was her favorite activity to do with him, followed by skiing and mountain biking. 

Bill conducted his professional life with the same level of conscientiousness, care, and determination that he applied to his explorations and his family. As a teenager, he approached the manager of Fox Parking at Sea-Tac airport, but was told they weren’t hiring. By the end of the conversation, Bill walked away with a job, having convinced the manager to create a whole new position, just for him. He approached his early jobs as educational opportunities, taking short stints at a warehouse and as a telemarketer, where he lasted until about lunchtime his first day before he’d learned all he needed to know. His college job at REI was much more suited to him, and taught him the value of quality equipment to outfit his expanding adventures. One of Bill’s favorite sayings was, “There is no bad weather, just bad gear.”

After his undergraduate program, Bill synthesized his interests with a Master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of New Hampshire. A much-loved member of the academic community there, Bill was someone everyone knew and appreciated. He studied and worked within the Browne Center for Experience-Based Outdoor Education, focusing on building confidence in at-risk children through rock-climbing trips. Later, as the Director of Outdoor Adventure at the University of California, Irvine, he was instrumental in creating an outdoor program complete with surfing, diving, rock climbing, and a premiere ropes course. With his vibrant charisma and leadership, Bill brought innovative teamwork opportunities not only to students but also to corporate clients interested in upending their hierarchical structure for a day of cooperative learning. He inspired all who spent time in his programs. 

A lifelong learner, Bill continued to specialize in team building and earned his PhD in Leadership & Change from Antioch University in 2016 at the age of 43. His dissertation research centered on the key qualities and skills of effective organizational team coaches. He contributed a chapter to The Practitioner’s Handbook of Team Coaching on the “power of the team,” including the crucial roles played by “humility and … internal motivation”—two character traits that Bill truly embodied.

Bill shifted to employment with Alameda County at the Training and Education Center, where he spent six years, four of them as the Director. He led a team to provide leadership and organizational development to County management, senior management, and private and non-profit organizations. As an educator, Bill continuously strived to expand his own knowledge and skills. He coached others to do the same, and urged his colleagues, friends and family to ask for more when it came to employment negotiations, to make sure they were getting what they were worth. Likewise, as a couple, Bill and Sunny supported each other to become the best versions of themselves both as individuals and in their partnership—continually learning, growing, and making their dreams become reality.

Bill was a man of boundless ideas, of endless possibilities. He loved good beer and good chocolate. He loved reading and listening to NPR, podcasts, music, and rooting for the Seahawks and Warriors. He loved spicy food, preferably eaten outdoors while wearing flip-flops and in the company of his family. He loved talking to his friends about the things that matter most in life, and shared his wealth of experience and wisdom with quiet humility. And though his habits seem like they may have been more befitting of a restless soul--constantly on the move, rising early to run along mountain ridges or to ride the steep winding roads of the East Bay, Bill had a singular presence, a calm focus, a quality of attention that arises only in those who truly and deeply care about others. He was reliably amiable, and although he was a man of extraordinary talents, abilities, and experiences, he met everyone as an equal.

He spent his last moments enjoying a Sunday-morning mountain-bike ride at Rockville Hills Regional Park in Fairfield, California, on the trail with his son and the other parents and children of the El Cerrito Junior Mountain Biking Team, which he helped coach. He is survived by his countless friends and his beloved family: his wife Sunny Lee, children Alex (age 12) and Serena (age 8) Jacox, his parents Randy and Kathy Jacox, his sister Teri Clubb, niece Jessica Clubb, and nephews Wayne Sandell and Zachary Clubb, all of whom carry Bill’s inspiration and guidance forward and into their own respective adventures.
Co-authored by Michelle Baptiste and Jason Buchholz