William ‘Bill’ L. Bagnard

William “Bill” Bagnard passed away peacefully in his home on October 8, 2016, surrounded by his family. He was 93 years old.

Bill was born on January 22, 1923 and was very proud of the fact that he shared his birthday with his son, William W. Bagnard, and his grandson, Andrew Lyle Bagnard, making it a three-generation “birthday trifecta.”

As a member of the “Greatest Generation,” Bill served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day with the 29th Infantry Division of the First U.S. Army. He was separated from his landing group and went on to fight in the Battle of the Hedgerows, ultimately joining up with General George Patton to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. He was one of six survivors from an original group of 1,200 soldiers and was later awarded the Bronze Star.

He returned from the war and attended the University of Southern California on the GI Bill and has been a loyal Trojan ever since. He started the first chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at USC and served as its first president. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business in 1950. In 2016, his family established the William L. Bagnard Endowed Scholarship at USC. Clearly, his favorite colors were cardinal and gold.

Bill enjoyed a successful professional career in the financial services industry, joining the Capital Group in LA in 1964 as the Executive Vice President of American Funds Distributors. He became the company’s secretary and treasurer two years later, its president in 1970, and was the Chairman of the Board when he retired in 1988.

He was an avid fisherman, traveling all over the world in pursuit of different species of fish, including trips to the Arctic Circle, Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon River. He also loved skiing and motorcycles. At the tender age of 77, he joined his son Bill for the final pre-running leg of the Baja 1000 course from La Paz to Cabo San Lucas. Certainly, there are few people that age who would even consider such a thing, let alone successfully complete the journey through such challenging terrain. In his final years, he enjoyed annual trips to the Hawaiian Islands with his family and evening fires in the fireplace with his soulmate.

Bill is survived by the love of his life and wife of 64 years, Jackie Bishop Bagnard. He is also survived by his son, William W. Bagnard, his daughter-in-law Tamara L. Bagnard and his four grandchildren, Alexa Louise Bagnard, William Matthew Bagnard, Marielle Des Marais Bagnard and Andrew Lyle Bagnard, all of Pacific Palisades, California.

A Celebration of Life event will be held on November 2 at 4 p.m. at the Los Angeles Country Club. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the St. Matthews Parish Outreach Program.