William C. "Bill" Bashor left this Earth peacefully on July 17, 2018. Born on April 16, 1929 in Longmont, Bill was the second child of Lester and Agnes Bashor. He was a third generation Coloradoan whose ancestors settled in the Hygiene area west of Longmont. Being born in the year of the Great Depression, Bill and his family saw some lean times and while living south of Grover when Bill was around 4, their house burned down. They lived for a couple of years on the the historic 70 Ranch near Kersey, then moved back up to the Hygiene area where Bill attended the Bashor School on Bashor Lake.

Bill's father Lester accumulated ranch property in the Grover area in the early 1940's and when Bill was a freshman in high school he moved to Grover to live on the ranch and attend high school. From an early age he always wanted to be a cowboy and, except for the times he attended college and was in the Army, Bill lived out his dream and happily lived on his ranch at Grover where he ran a successful cow/calf operation until moving to Greeley in 2013. The ranch was originally operated as Williams L. Bashor and Sons, Inc, with Bill's two brothers, Clint and Dave, then divided in the late 70's, between the brothers. Bill never had to wear a suit or punch a time clock. He led the life he wanted.

To paraphrase Will Rogers, Bill never met a person he didn't like. He had lifelong friends stretching back to high school, and everywhere he went he made new friends and endeared people to him. He rarely spoke ill of anyone and was interested in everyone's background and history.

After graduating from Grover High School in 1947, Bill attended Colorado State University, then known as Colorado A& M. He spent way more time rodeoing than studying, traveling with his buddies to various rodeos around the country, winning belt buckles and a very nice saddle along the way. Bill competed at the National Collegiate Rodeo Finals in 1949 and 1950, placing in the top five in bareback riding and bull riding, and always reveled in the memories of riding bulls at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. While Bill stopped riding bulls once he married and started a family, he kept his hand in rodeoing by judging youth rodeos for several years which he enjoyed immensely.

It was at CSU where Bill met his future wife, Mae Dawkins, whom he married on April 16, 1952. They raised three kids-Greg, Cheri and Valerie- on the ranch and worked side by side improving the property and making it into a small oasis on the plains. Bill got drafted into the Army during the Korean War and served his term at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he made more friends who, for years, made trips to Colorado with their families to visit the Bashor family. While Mae enjoyed the time living in Georgia, Bill was homesick and pined to be back on the ranch. Years later when the family took trips to the mountain and went for hikes, Bill would choose to stay behind and nap in the car, stating he had done all the hiking he wanted to do in the Army.

Being the outgoing individual he was, Bill was always active in civic and community organizations throughout his life, including serving on the school board, the Lions Club, Community Club, and Colorado Cattlemen's Association, where he often held leadership positions. He also served several years on the board of directors of the Federal Land Bank which gave him the opportunity to travel extensively to conferences in warm climates like Florida, Hawaii, New Orleans and California. He wasn't much for traveling or leaving the ranch to "vacation", but for work he would grin and make the sacrifice!

Bill is survived by his three children, Greg Bashor of Eugene, Oregon, Cheri Bashor of Ault, and Valerie Bashor of Missoula, Montana; two grandchildren, Natalie Bashor and Andrew Binney; three great-grandchildren, Ryan and Nicole Lewis and Charles Simpson; three siblings, Marjorie Hackett, Clint Bashor and Dave Bashor; his ex-wife Mae Bashor, and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family is grateful to the staff at The Garden Square at Westlake who cared for him and treated Bill like family for the years after he moved to Greeley, and to the staff at Fair Acres and Hospice services who pampered him and made his life comfortable in the last month of his life.

A Life Celebration Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at Adamson Life Celebration Home, 2000 47th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80634.

To leave condolences with the family visit adamsoncares.com

Happy Trails Bill...