William Charles “Bill” Sumner was born on May 1, 1956 in Beavercreek, OH. From a young age Bill demonstrated both academic and athletic prowess. An outstanding football player and wrestler for Beavercreek High School, Bill was also a member of the National Honor Society. Affable and articulate, he was a natural candidate for multiple service academies and chose West Point.

I first met him in Beast Barracks, which in those days lived up to his name. Not quite buying into “cooperate and graduate,” Bill was a stubborn individual who placed the welfare of his squadmates above himself. “King of the Pits,” Bill garnered the respect of everyone in the class that summer by besting all he faced with the feared pugil sticks. Surviving Beast, Bill was detailed to Company C-1, which in those days was the center of plebe character molding in the Corps. With a wicked wit and a knack for being ghostlike, Bill gave out as good as he got, and he decided to become a warrior. He was on both the Football and Wrestling teams and at the same time managed to remain in the upper 25 percent of the class academically. He went through Ranger School and joined the Orienteering Team, where for the next two years he led the team to national rankings. All the while, he became a master scuba diver and accomplished sky diver. Bill was a standout graduate of the West Point Class of 1978.

Bill began his Army career in Germany, and upon his return to the United States he was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, where he was placed on the cadre of the fabled Army Ranger School, running Camp Darby until his initial commitment was up. He transitioned to the civilian world with ease and soon was a senior manager with MCI in Dallas, where he led the firms’ efforts into the field of Advance Intelligent Networks. Bill moved swiftly up the corporate ladder and was recruited by a series of investors to lead new companies. While we were both living in the Chicago area, we were sitting out by his backyard firepit one evening when he shared that he felt a calling to be of more help to people in need, especially children. He went back to school to get his master’s in social work from the George Williams College of Aurora University and set off on his voyage to those in need. 

One of Bill’s biggest dreams in life was to live in the mountains. Two things set his love for the west into motion: the first was watching the classic movie Jeremiah Johnson; the second was a road trip to Colorado during his years at West Point. From there he then set his next goal on moving to the Rocky Mountains. Bill moved Barbara and the kids to Colorado, where he could once again become one with the great outdoors while helping others. He started his own business, the Inevitable You. In this time, he also added two more children to his clan. Keane, Bonnie, Jack and Isabella were all in for the times of their young lives. Bill’s professional fame in neural linguistic programming and business success spread nationwide and soon he was holding seminars across the country. He and Barb bought a hobby ranch on the side of a mountain and settled in. Bill was helping literally thousands of people, from soccer moms to corporate CEOs, to become the greatest versions of themselves!

Early on a Saturday morning as I was out walking, I got a call from Bill. He was in an emergency room in Tampa, FL, where he had a second place of residence with his daughter Isabella. He had great difficulty speaking as he said that he was having severe issues with his speech. We waited on the diagnosis to come in and then for a game plan. Saying that the diagnosis was grim would be optimistic. On that day, Bill learned he had a mass inside the front left lobe of his brain. He immediately flew home to Denver, where Bonnie, his other daughter, an oncology nurse, got him into the best possible care center. They gave him 12-15 months after a risky surgery to remove the parts of the tumor they could. 

He had his surgery in February 2019, and, as usual, Bill prioritized. He secured the family; he went on to fight the fight. Included in his fight was to be at his eldest daughter’s (Bonnie) wedding. Of course, he made it with room to spare. So like Bill. He went on to beat the odds in his own way, making it until January 4, 2020, when he crossed the river to join those who went before him.

We were all so fortunate to be able to gather around Bill one last time while he was still that vibrant inevitable warrior. Twenty or so of us got together to have an old-fashioned hail and farewell. For hours and hours, we laughed until we cried. We could fill volumes with stories of the things that Bill did, the lives of the people that Bill touched and times he brought sheer joy into our lives. In the end we got to bid our brother farewell, an honor of a lifetime for us all. To sum up his life is simple as we can all say, “Well Done.” Be Thou at Peace, Bill.

— Bob Olds ’78 and the Sumner Family