On June 7, 2026 William Earl Bay who was proud to be under the Lordship of Jesus Christ was promoted to the heavenly kingdom to be with his Holy Father. He was 90 years old.

William is survived by his son, Christopher William Bay of their home in Greenfield, MO near the banks of Stockton Lake, by his daughter and son in law Cassandra & Gavin Walker of Brookline, MO, by three grandsons Alexander Walker & Partner Tiffany, Gideon Walker & Wife Sarah & Caleb Walker, by 8 great grandchildren with the ninth soon to arrive, by his brother and sister in law Richard & Nancy Bay of Arlington, Washington, by sister in law Stephanie Bay of St. Louis, MO, by sister in law Denise Bay of DeSoto, MO and by beloved nieces and nephews.

William is preceded in death by his daughter, Jennifer Lea Bay, by his wife Mary Bay, by his parents Irvin Earl Bay & Effie Marie Bay (Webb), by his sister Ruth Besand (& husband David Besand), by his brother Douglas Bay, by his brother Kenneth Bay (& wife Rhonda) and by his brother David Bay.

William was known as Bill to friends and family and known as Billy in some cases in his early days. On April 25, 1936 Earl and Marie gave birth to their first child, Bill in St. Louis, MO. Not long after came little sister and not further after that came a little brother with three more brothers to keep up with down the line. One of Bill’s favorite memories that he repeated often was at age 4 his father Earl took him fishing at a pond in southeast Missouri on a family friend’s property. This meaningful happy memory likely served as the launch point for his lifelong love of all things nature, especially building ponds.

Though Bill and his little sister Ruth started out as St. Louis city kids riding the streetcar by themselves at an early age to go swimming and do fun things, Earl and Marie moved the family to a land parcel with a home in Jefferson County, MO where they began to add some livestock and carve a new life. Bill recalled many memories of this season of life at the family farm among which were being taught to hunt and handle a weapon properly by his father at an early age starting with squirrel. As the oldest of six, Earl and Marie relied on Bill in those early years of establishing the farm. Among many other things, Bill was responsible to get up before the family to start the fire to warm the home before heading out to milk the cow and feed the pigs while his father was away during the weekdays as a pipefitter out of the area. Bill learned to work with wood by cutting wood for the family and building fence posts for his father. Bill recounted many times over his life how much respect he had for his mother Marie to manage a rural farm with 6 children no electricity, no phone and unable to drive in those early years. Bill loved his mother dearly and recurrently referenced his admiration of her strength and business acumen. Bill was proud of his parents and his family.

After playing football and being one of the coach’s top players as a Festus Tiger, Bill served in the United States Army during the Korean War. His time in the military was spent training as a Parachutist. He also was a military award-winning marksman during his training. Using his GI Bill, Bill pursued his Bachelor’s in Business and after a 1st marriage finished a Master’s Degree in Psychology/Social Work from Southern Illinois University. After working for the Missouri Department Of Vocational Rehabilitation he found himself at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, MO where he enjoyed a long career as Mr. Bay the career counselor a position from which he retired. Those career years were filled with the arrival of 3 children and after his land parcel on JJ Highway, not too far away from his own childhood land parcel, became too small for the cattle and pigs he had, he moved his family to a land parcel in southeast Missouri. There he taught his son how to hunt and be responsible with a weapon, how to enjoy and respect nature. Bill enjoyed cultivating his herd of Angus and Yorkshire pigs and tended his farm each day after his two hour drive, one way, arriving home from the college. Christopher, Cassandra and Jennifer learned to gather eggs, pick up rocks and retrieve rogue cattle from the neighbor’s property to help their parents.

Bill’s degree and interest in business ran through his life but also into retirement. He set his hand to many things. As a younger man, he owned a gas station and mechanical repair shop near JJ road off of Highway 67. He also kept most of his money in land acquisitions, a new house in Washington County at one point and was involved in rentals for a while. With his son Christopher, they operated a car sales lot near Hillsboro off of Highway 21.

Eventually Bill’s love of ponds, lakes and a need to be immersed fully in nature led him to Greenfield, MO where he enjoyed many years on Stockton Lake in the Three Hills community and then purchased his dream property just on the other side near the Son’s Creek branch. Bill said many many times how blessed he felt that the Lord saw fit to allow him to enjoy his retirement years with the ability to do the things that made his heart happy. Bill and Christopher launched a bee business and it was Bill’s delight to watch his son become one of the main area bee hive producers and several regional farm supply chains begin to carry the Son’s Creek brand of honey. In addition to the bee business, Bill enjoyed all of his passions with Christopher like crappie season and buck season.

As Bill’s mobility began to clash with his passions, his sights set again on building yet another pond (or plake as it began to be known). Building his final pond has been perhaps one of Bill’s happiest times for he relished that though his legs and strength were not what they once were, inside the air conditioned cab with his oxygen and lunch sandwich he had made, he could simply continue to indulge a passion. In days before his passing, he also confided that the cab of his skid steer was also a special prayer closet where he met with God. No matter what this project needed, Christopher made a way for Bill to perform this be it building a ramp for an elderly man to get into his skid steer or asking Randy Singer to come and provide Corp Of Engineer level guidance and labor which Randy readily did. Just days before having to leave his beloved land, Bill savored the experience of riding in the truck to pick up this year’s fingerlings to add to the pond and daydreaming about grandchildren able to come out this summer and finally, for the first time, catch last year’s fingerlings as they were finally matured enough so the grandchildren could enjoy the same memory with their fathers, fishing, as he had enjoyed as a boy with his father. This was a physical legacy he spent his final years enjoying for himself but also to give his family a place to go to remember him and enjoy family times together in nature. He spoke of a desire to create a sign to be placed at the pond site that honored God and explain that he was able to build that pond with God’s help.

Bill’s bond with his son ran deep, was rich and unshakable and was the reason Bill could enjoy life in his own home indulging passions into his elderly years. Bill was proud of his children. Bill was proud of his grandsons. He enjoyed shooting guns with them. News of his grandsons and great grandchildren fueled him shared over meat loaf dinners brought by Cassandra. In his later years Bill had a renaissance of relationships with sister Ruth, brother Doug and brother Richard as the siblings grew closer and comforted each other with more frequent phone calls. Bill enjoyed routine updates about the lives of his nieces and nephews. He also enjoyed his friendships from the Three Hills community and in the Greenfield area inviting those that did not have family to spend a holiday with over because he didn’t want them to be alone. He valued his friends at Three Hills. Bill took joy and comfort in the constant companionship of little Emmie during his alone times and would slip treats to her at the dinner table.

Before health issues began to cascade, Bill was reading his Bible more than ever as going to church had become difficult. He supplemented by watching speakers on tv. He recently called Cassandra to explain that he had been reading his Bible like usual, but had been praying differently to the Father. Something special and different had happened in him and he wanted to share it. He was happy that after praying, his leg pain had disappeared. He didn’t know how long it would last but it was important to him that his story (testimony) be shared with others because he felt someone may be encouraged that even though you may pray and ask God for something for a long time and not receive the answer in the way you would like, God hears your prayer and you should keep asking and keep believing that He is a good Father. Bill agreed that if the Lord never did another thing for him, He’s already done enough. Bill passed into eternity with this mindset. His wisdom, encouragement and love will be deeply missed on this earth.

A funeral service will be held Monday, June 15, 2026, at 11:30 AM, at Gorman Scharpf Funeral Home. A burial will follow at Missouri Veteran's Cemetery, at 1:00 PM.