WILLIAM HOLT WILTON
July 30, 1937 ˜ August 31, 2023

William H. Wilton, a.k.a. Bill, a.k.a. Wee Willy Wilton (although he did rue the day, he shared that latter childhood nickname with his children), of Vancouver passed away peacefully in his home on Aug. 31, 2023 with his wife and children by his side.

Bill was most known, and will always be remembered, for his quick wit, dry sense of humor, and sarcasm. No matter the situation, Bill had a quip. Sometimes it was inappropriate or cringe-worthy, but it always made everyone laugh. He was a child himself at heart; his daughters can spit ice at someone through a straw with pinpoint accuracy thanks to his early teachings at a particular restaurant after their piano lessons. Family holiday gatherings were ones filled with much laughter, always started after the evening news was over, and ended with him saying "OK, it's 9:00. Time for everyone to go home."

His lifetime career with 3M Company meant he was working there right before Post-It Notes became popular. This increased his children's coolness factor as they were the first kids to have these at school because, as they boasted, "our dad works for the company who invented them." Bill was 3M's top salesperson many times throughout his career, which allowed him use of some higher end company vehicles. After a few cars were returned in less than top condition because he'd allowed his children to drive them, 3M switched to rewarding his hard work with free trips instead.....no children allowed.

Bill was also a talented woodworker, producing many beautiful furniture items in his garage workshop. His wife Sharon brought those pieces to life with her artistic skills, and many items were gifted to their children, grandchildren, friends, neighbors, or someone in need. His skills went beyond woodworking as he was also quite a handyman; those talents combined with his compassionate heart led him to make numerous house calls to friends and neighbors to build or fix things in or around their homes. His compassionate heart also applied to animals, and his children grew up with a wide variety of strays taken into the home, including a pregnant Doberman whose puppies took over the entire garage.

His eight grandchildren were the joy of his life, and he referred to them as "God's gift for not killing your children when they were teenagers." The grandchildren learned colorful language and off-color jokes from him at very young ages, much to the dismay of their parents, but his sense of humor lives on in each one of them. When an emergency surgery in 2022 resulted in the loss of one of his legs, one of his grandchildren gifted him a T-shirt which read "It's official. I'm on my last leg." Bill wore it with pride, knowing that his wit would live on for generations to come.

Bill is survived by his wife, 'Toots' of 43 years, Sharon (Green Hopkins) Wilton; his children, Kristie (Wilton) Focht, Mark (Pam) Hopkins, Carrie (Geoff Wittreich) Wilton, John (Amanda) Hopkins; and his grandchildren, Hannah Hopkins, Madison Focht, Sarah Hopkins, Grant Hopkins, Alyssa Focht, Monroe Hopkins, Sunny Wittreich, and Cash Hopkins.

In lieu of flowers, please instead consider brightening someone's day with an inappropriate joke, donating to your local humane society or endoflifewa.org, or volunteering at a local homeless shelter.