William "Bill" Percival

William “Bill” Percival was born May 19, 1942 and passed away from a sudden heart attack in Winchester, California on October 14, 2025.

Bill lived big in many ways and was over 11 pounds when he was born on the kitchen table at the Thompson family Rifle Pit Ranch near Sundance to Paul Percival and Betty Thompson Percival. Bill was raised on the Percival Ranch north of Lusk.

He was a 1960 NCHS graduate remembered as a feared defensive end in football and lock down defender and shot blocker in basketball. Bill graduated from UW with a degree in Ag Science and later earned a masters degree in psychology from UW. He had the ability to talk to anyone and was voted most popular teacher at Harrison High, where he worked as a guidance counselor. His real love was working outdoors farming and cattle ranching. He was an innovative farmer and even successful in putting up pinto bean crops north of Lusk in the 1980s. He later helped his son, Doug, design and operate a tilapia fish farm in Southern California in the 1990s.

Bill was a community leader in Lusk and active in the Masonic Lodge, Little League coaching and Boy Scouts along with Roger Peterson and Jerry Walsh. His son, Doug, led the Tigers to a 1986 State football championship as the team’s quarterback and daughter, Krista, was an All-State athlete too. Bill loved elk hunting in the Tetons with Herb and Danny Tadewald and pheasant hunting near Huntley with his beloved Lab, Emma. He was an avid reader, especially in religious studies and world history, and also traveled extensively overseas.

Bill is remembered for his eternally optimistic outlook and kindness by his family, and is survived by his kids Doug, Krista and husband Piet, Phil and his wife Aica, and ex-wife Gayleen who all live in California, plus grandsons Holden and Ramsey Aldrich who are Krista's sons. He is also survived by his sister, Dot Whiteaker, who still lives in Lusk, and her family including Tom Whiteaker and Marybeth Nelson. Flora Mae Clark and Rog Rogers from Lusk are Bill’s cousins and he is also survived by cousins Hugh and Wes Thompson, Frank Supon and Judy Kieler who reside around Sundance. Bill will be missed.

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