Passed away on Saturday, July 6th, 2024.
William was a beloved partner of Christy Fauth for 37 years and a dear friend to many.
SERVICES: Visitation will be held at KUTIS AFFTON CHAPEL (10151 Gravois Rd, 63123) on Friday, July 12th from 4:00 – 8:00 PM.
I had known Bill for over 40 years. I photographed many weddings for, and with, Bill in the days of photographs shot on film. His sense of professionalism and self-confidence were unfaltering and calming for every anxious bride and groom. I cannot begin to describe scope and depth of his contributions to my understanding of wedding photography in my early years.
Reconnecting with Bill in the last few years was an unexpected gift. His ready smile warmed my memories. Our shared stories and experiences rekindled a special friendship. I will miss having that occasional lunch with Bill, but I will count myself fortunate to have spent time with him.
God bless you Bill and keep you in the comfort of His grace.
Long time friend. The ultimate professional and great friend. Although I had not seen Bill in a few years, still considered him a good friend. We go way back to 1970.. RIP
Bill has been a friend and colleague since the early 90’s. I met Bill through Betty who worked with Bill at large events as a photographer. Bill expressed interest in seeing, photographing and videoing our Tactical Team Course. He attended the course in 1990 and that started a lifelong relationship. Bill was responsible for many videos at HK and Team One Network. He also was responsible for some of our catch phrases such as “The Critical Difference” and “Train to Win”.
Bill was such a valuable member of the Team; he was an original plank holder of the “Make it Happen” award from Team One Network. He was a great colleague and friend and will be deeply missed.
I worked with Bill between 2022-2024. He was such a welcoming and thoughtful person. I’d often walk past Bills desk and get instantly pulled into an intriguing conversation! He would have a great story to tell no matter what we were talking about. Not only that but he was the kind of person that would drop what he was doing to actually listen to you.
Thank you for being such a wonderful person Bill and thank you for always being there for me. Prayers to you and your loved ones.
Christy I’m so sorry for your loss..
I worked with Bill. We immediately bonded over the fact that he left Hungary and the iron curtain via my hometown Belgrade. We talked almost every day. Over the last month he did not work much from the office, but we still talked about many different things. Our last call was July 1st at 12:44pm. RIP tough and kind soul.
Bill was a good friend, always available. As opinionated as he was (aren’t we all?), he never let politics or ideology get in the way of friendship. A true model of what America really is at it’s best.
Bill’s incredible – and I don’t use that word lightly – life experiences gave him a tremendous insight and advantage that most folks miss. He saw some of the worst that humanity can offer, yet he moved on as a gentleman with no bitterness and always willing to help.
His experiences as a refugee in the Hungarian Revolution, US Army chopper pilot in Vietnam, and photojournalist in third-world assignments gave him the incentive to excel and succeed. He had a winning smile and a big, ever-present laugh.
It is my hope that, with Bill’s passing, all of us who knew him take on a part of him and move onward.
I learned many things from Bill over our years working as financial advisors. He taught me more about investing than anyone else in my career. His occasional hand-to-hand self-defense lessons in the conference room were always a fun and enlightening diversion to the day, often ending with me on my back on the floor. He was an immigrant that served his new country with honor and valor, the details of which we will never have full knowledge and of which he rarely spoke. (I had to rewrite that sentence leaving a preposition off the end as Bill would have noticed.) I learned from him that words are important and having a command of our written language is critical in life especially when explaining financial concepts to clients. You could sense that his underlying experiences and training gave him a power that made him a gentle man, with nothing to prove yet always committed to doing the right thing. I am a better person for having known him.
Bill was our investment advisor. He was an honest and professional man. We enjoyed our lunches together over the years and shared our thoughts on all topics.
Bill was a true patriot of his old and new countries. He valued the freedoms we enjoy in America. Our country was better for adopting him.
Our condolences to all. God bless.
When my son Daniel was a little boy, Bill showed up our house with a poster of a Time Magazine cover of John Wayne on horseback, framed and vrty large! Bill told us, “Every kid needs a hero!
Bill was my hero…He was charming, funny, multi-talented, and sometimes mysterious…I met Bill about 1970 when we were both wedding photographers for Bob Westrich and quickly became friends…We’d go on photographic jaunts together….He was game for anything…helping crew at the hot air ballon championship in Iowa…helping me build D-Max Colorgraphics a photo lab I opened in Fenton…
We both earned our pilots licenses about the same time and we would fly around Missouri together as new fixed wing pilots…making the “official” photo of our beloved German Shepherd Kiowa and his family of puppies…
Bill was my best friend…and if you measure friendship by how much they do for you without expecting anything in return……Bill is a 10+….
One of my best memories…and I have a movie of this…..My son Dan is about 2 years old….Dan is in the front yard leading Kiowa around and Bill is right there chasing them and laughing….having a ball….
Bill immigrated from Hungary in the early ’60’s……he had no family here and I would like to think that my family, Judy, Dan and myself provided a “family” for him…
Bill was a wonderful person and I will miss him greatly…
Bill, his mother and step father (my father’s brother) were caught up in the Hungarian revolution with Russia in 1956. My father secured State Dept papers for them to immigrate to the US. I remember going with my parents to pick them up at union station and they had only one suitcase. They moved into our basement. I took Bill to school with me when her didn’t know a word of English. The teachers immediately took interest in him and he learned English very quickly. Bill and his parents are examples of the wonderful proud Americans immagrent’s become. I went to college and Bill enlisted in the Air Force to fight for America in Viet Nam because he said he owed it to America. We all suffer his loss.
Thomas….thank you for this…..for as many years as I knew Bill….he never opened up to me about his early life……in fact Bill, another friend my daughter Kc and myself were at the gun range shooting trap……Kc was able to get more info about Bill’s early life….how he got here etc. than I ever could over about the 50 years that I knew him…….I understood that it was only Bill and one uncle that immigrated…..it sounds like his mom came too……I’m interested in finding out more about Bill’s early life…..
I met Bill when I joined Guardian in 2016. He was a wonderful man who became my unofficial mentor, never too busy to provide advice and strategy. After I left Guardian to teach full time we stayed in contact with regular lunches. He loved words and we would discuss their origins and meaning. We talked politics, and though we had different viewpoints, those differences never got in the way of our friendship. We shared a birthday, June 20th, and that was the last time we spoke. He was a true friend, and I will miss him. Christy, I know it’s a cliche, but he truly was one in a million.
I have known Bill from the very start during the HK days and always appreciated his patients shooting stills and videos while we made mistake after mistake and then did quite a bit of fooling around, but we “Made It Happen”. Bill always had a new joke every year that he would tell us at photography shoots or the conference’s, remember the “Dolphin Joke” LOL. I was proud to call him a friend and humbled by his service to our country in Vietnam, flying Huey’s for the US Army.
Bill will sadly be missed!!!
Rest In Peace My Friend.
Bill and I met when we were both employed by Maritz (in the 80’s) and worked a huge business theater event in Canada for Wang. There were over 1200 attendees…so it was a huge production. This was “back in the day”….before digital photography and we had to put together a multi-media slide show of “candids”….photos of all the attendees working, playing, etc for the closing segment. I was one of the art directors selecting and mounting slides in Wess mounts. Bill was one of a number of photographers shooting the photos and – imagine this – developing them in his hotel room. We had thousands of photos to pore through, select the best and put them in the slide show. I was so impressed with Bill’s photography….every one of his shots was perfect and there was very little editing to do. Just mount them all! I made sure to get to know Bill as we were always doing these big shows and knowing who the excellent and dependable talents were across the organization was really important. Needless to say, Bill and I worked many a show together and became good friends.. During one show I saw a side of him – frustrated at the client – and said, “you really need to meet my husband”. That set in gear a decades long relationship with Bill and John – and John’s “guys”. We would see Bill about once a year for the Team One Network conference with Bill shooting photos, video or adding his 2 cents. (Sometimes more than 2 cents!). He was one of our “regulars”….a very talented, kind man and friend to all. We will miss him dearly.
I first met Bill when I started working at the Guardian office, and from the beginning, he was always kind and supportive. He would often come over to my desk to offer advice and share jokes, brightening my day. We occasionally went out for lunch, where he would regale me with fascinating stories about his past experiences, especially his time in the photography industry. His travels to various events around the world were particularly intriguing.
Bill was a truly special person. He would drop whatever he was doing to help with any task, no matter how big or small. Every morning, as I walked by his desk, he would greet me with a warm smile and ask how my morning was going, and we’d chat for a few minutes. His phone ringtone, the main theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, always made me smile. From him, I even learned the first rule of a knife fight: “Expect you’re going to get cut.”
Bill was an exceptional listener, always ready to lend an ear regardless of the topic. He was a good friend with whom I could discuss anything. He was more than just a colleague; he was a true friend and a cherished part of my work life.
I first met Bill when I started working at the office, and from the beginning, he was always kind and supportive. He would often come over to my desk to offer advice and share jokes, brightening my day. We occasionally went out for lunch, where he would regale me with fascinating stories about his past experiences, especially his time in the photography industry. His travels to various events around the world were particularly intriguing.
Bill was a truly special person. He would drop whatever he was doing to help with any task, no matter how big or small. Every morning, as I walked by his desk, he would greet me with a warm smile and ask how my morning was going, and we’d chat for a few minutes. His phone ringtone, the main theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, always made me smile. From him, I even learned the first rule of a knife fight: “Expect you’re going to get cut.”
Bill was an exceptional listener, always ready to lend an ear regardless of the topic. He was a good friend with whom I could discuss anything. He was more than just a colleague; he was a true friend.
I am so sad to hear of Bill’s passing. I was very sad to get a letter today learning he passed. I wish I would have known and been able to be at his service to honor him. Bill and I first met at the St. Louis Art Museum when he was doing archive photography. I always enjoyed getting assigned photography and getting the chance to work with Bill. He became my financial advisor. I was always very thankful for him to become my financial advisor. Not only because he was a great one but because we were able to maintain a long friendship. Bill was such a kind and creative person I’m glad I got to know both sides of him, the financial side and the creative side. I always enjoy talking to Bill and hearing his stories. I am very thankful for him and I will miss him greatly. My condolences to Cindy. I wish we would’ve met. I always loved hearing about her from Bill. My deepest sympathies.