Los Angeles County Lifeguard Trust Fund and Alumni Association

William C. McKinley

October 6, 1935 - September 2, 2025

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William "Bill" C. McKinley passed away peacefully surrounded by family at his home in Port Townsend on September 2, 2025. He was 89.

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Bill was born on October 6, 1935, in Los Angeles, California to Loren and Mary McKinley. After graduating from Modesto High School in Modesto, California, he attended UCLA where he received his undergraduate degree in 1961 and his law degree in 1964. He went on to practice law (civil litigation) for 40 years in Sacramento, California. In 1980, he married his wife, Lori, who became his life companion and second mother to his children.

 

He gave his life to Jesus Christ at age 53 and hoped to encourage others to have a personal relationship with God. He found his first church family at First Covenant Church in Sacramento. In 2000, he and Lori moved to Port Townsend, where they joined Calvary Community Church and he cherished Christian fellowship with his church community, friends and family. He had a heart for Christian mission and felt blessed to go on trips to Mexicali and Haiti with his church and daughter, Katie, as well as to Uganda with his law partner, Tim Smith.

 

Bill loved the ocean and being in the water. As a young man, he was a Los Angeles County beach lifeguard and surfed in Southern California and Hawaii in the 1950s and 1960s. He also was a competitive wrestler at UCLA and then on the All-Army Wrestling Team, qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 1960.

 

His other interests included skiing, tennis, hiking, fishing, traveling, racing vintage sports cars and flying planes (achieving 3,000 hours flight time). Throughout his life, he was an avid reader and kept abreast of world events and sports, especially his beloved UCLA Bruins and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He additionally enjoyed watching his son, Michael, play basketball in high school and college, and closely followed the games of his grandsons, Ryan and Trevor, online when he could no longer attend.

 

Bill also served in the U.S. Army from 1958-60, going through basic training at Fort Ord then stationed at Fort Lewis, West Point, and in Seoul, South Korea. He was a member of the Christian Legal Society, the International Society for Skiing Safety, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

 

Bill is missed and remembered with love by his wife of 45 years, Lori; son, Michael C. McKinley; daughter, Katie Fowlie (Barry); grandsons, Ryan C. McKinley and Trevor McKinley; and brother, David Jackson (Joan).