William “Bill” Clark Colbert passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on January 29, 2016. He was 71 years old and enjoyed “taking the scenic route” in life.

Born in St. Louis on June 23, 1944 to Lydia (McDaniel) and Harold Colbert, Bill was an active member of his family’s longtime church, Grace United Methodist. He spent his summers exploring the bluffs of the Mississippi River at New Piasa Chautauqua, IL and graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1962. With a natural knack for numbers and insatiable curiosity, he earned a degree in economics from Grinnell College (1966) and an MBA from Washington University (1968).

During the Vietnam War, Bill served as a military intelligence specialist in the 2nd Squadron of the 1st Armored Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. He received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service to his country.

In pursuit of his career as a banking financial analyst, Bill also resided in Memphis, TN and Oklahoma City, OK. Upon his retirement in 1993, he returned to St. Louis and advocated for social justice with Metropolitan Congregations United, the Eastern Missouri Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Grace United Methodist Church, St. John’s United Methodist Church and First Unitarian Church.

In 2005, Bill embarked on a new adventure, living on his family’s ancestral farm in Creston, Iowa. He returned to St. Louis following health problems in 2009 and lived the final years of his life at the St. Louis Altenheim, overlooking the banks of the Mississippi River.

Bill leaves behind a loving family including his older brother Larry and sister-in-law Carrie of Webster Groves; four children with his former wife Susan (Drescher) Terrill: son John and daughter-in-law Jan Clinite of St. Louis; son James of Denver, CO; daughter Claire of St. Louis; daughter Rebecca and son-in-law Matt Robertson of Denver, CO; and three beloved grandchildren: Juniper, Margot and Neil.

Services will be held at Grace United Methodist Church on April 2, 2016. In lieu of flowers, Bill’s family asks that donations be made to one of his favorite organizations: SouthSide Early Childhood Center, Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Grace United Methodist Church, or St. Louis Altenheim.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to the caring staff of the St. Louis Altenheim and Chromalloy American Kidney Center.