Adored by his family and friends for nearly 84 years, William “Bill” Hosack still left us too soon. In a world with so many books left to read and questionably tasteful jokes to tell, we know he only left because he wasn’t allowed to stay.
Bill was born in Emporia, Kansas on July 9, 1940, but spent most of his childhood in the Portland area, graduating from Jefferson High School in 1958. Brilliant but restless, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps later that year. He was rapidly awarded a series of meritorious promotions that earned him a coveted position in Armorer School, where he (unsurprisingly) finished first in his class. After an MOS as a machine gunner, Bill left the Marine Corps in 1962, having earned the rank of Sergeant in just three short years.
Bill was thus trained to take orders, but had always planned to follow his own. He returned to civilian life and enrolled at Portland State University where he excelled in his studies, graduating in 1966. Later that fall, the future Dr. Hosack began his medical studies at the University of Oregon Medical School, graduating with his M.D. in 1970.
Fortunately for his children, this part of Bill’s story also includes meeting and marrying the lovely Kathy Connall in 1968. By 1975, the couple had welcomed son, Zachary and daughter, Brittany, and the family was on the move to Coos Bay. Bill had accepted a position at the brand new Bay Area Hospital as its first Chief Pathologist.
The family quickly settled into the community and life was a whirlwind. By 1978, the family had expanded to include daughter, Shannon, and son, Luke. The children thrived in school and sports, and Bill quickly became a fixture at the hospital. He was respected both for his skill as a physician and beloved for his singularly coarse humor. He was elected to the Bay Area Hospital Board, served a term as Chief of Staff, and would also go on to serve as an Assistant State Medical Examiner. He retired in 2004, but was never more busy. The couple moved to the Portland area in 2009, where Bill spent the rest of his life, welcoming nine grandchildren along the way.
Bill Hosack was a renaissance man with a blue collar bent. His name was Bill, or “Hose,” not Dr. Hosack. He had the air of a gentleman and the mouth of a sailor. An autodidact with a genius IQ, he was fascinated by machines, tinkered endlessly, and devoured tomes on everything. Quasars, firearm design, world history, and dead presidents. He loved motorcycles because they went really fast. He was always the funniest man in the room, and if you didn’t laugh, you at least cringed. He played with his words like toys, and made casual musings on string theory. He smelled like gun oil, wore Carhartt like a uniform, and drove a big red pick up. His moral compass held fast at true north, unyielding to expediency, answering to none but reason. He seemed to be all things at once, larger than life.
But even the funniest guy in the world can’t stay. The leader of our band left us on May 19, 2024. After a lifetime of words, we salute Bill with a few of his own. Godspeed to you, our forever “illustrious, magnanimous, patriarch, Sir!”
Bill is survived by Wife of nearly 56 years years, Kathy, children Zachary (Malin) Hosack, Brittany (Tom) MacDonald, Shannon (Colin) Wallace, and Luke (Virginia) Hosack; grandchildren Tommy, Reese, Luke, and Tate MacDonald, Ashby and Brenna Wallace, Gunnar and Lily Hosack, and Connall Fjallstrom-Hosack, sister Candice Upchurch, brother Jim Hossack. He is preceded in death by his father, Delbert Hosack, his mother, Lillian Mann, stepfather, Walla Mann, stepmother Rosalie Hosack, and sister Mary Jo Hosack.
We will toast Bill on Saturday, June 15 at Bugatti’s in West Linn, from 1:00-4:00.
Military Funeral Honors will be rendered on Monday, June 17, at 1:30 pm, at Willamette National Cemetery.