Obituary for William “Bill” Conlin: April 5, 1945 to February 7, 2025

William (Bill) Joseph Conlin was born in Santa Monica, CA on April 5, 1945. The eldest of five sons, Bill enjoyed the challenges of hard work – selling donuts door-to-door, building go-karts, surfing, washing dishes in a local restaurant, and repairing cars.

Full of curiosity and adventure, Bill attended summer school in Guadalajara, Mexico while studying at Los Angeles Valley Community College. Following graduation in 1966, he traveled the length of Mexico from Tijuana to Yucatan in a converted VW bus. He enrolled at San Francisco State and that summer traveled to Mexico with a student volunteer group, Amigos Anonymous. He drove a truck carrying project supplies and attended a training in a former convent in Mexico City. It was there he met his wife, Linda de Smet, another Amigo volunteer. Bill always enjoyed telling the story of how he met Linda – in a convent.

Bill and Linda married in 1969. In 1974, he graduated with a BA in history from San Jose State University. They headed to Tahoe, settling in Kings Beach, where Bill helped open Lanza’s Italian Restaurant. In 1980, they homesteaded in Silver Springs, Nevada with their four children. They purchased a 14’ x 70’ fixer-upper mobile home, installed a hand pump over the well, and lived off-grid. Alongside family and friends, Bill constructed a water tower and erected an old Aermotor windmill. He purchased a pickle barrell from the Del Monte cannery and replaned the staves, reducing its capacity from 10,000 to 2,000 gallons. On the day their sixth child was born, the Conlins had running water in their home.

Bill worked 32 years as a technician for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. He enjoyed working with farmers and ranchers in Lyon County to survey and design ditches to conserve water use. He also served on civil rights committees focused on Hispanic and LGBTQ rights and organized a conference for LGBTQ farmers and restaurateurs in Northern Nevada.

Bill volunteered as a backpacking, skiing, and rocketry leader for the Lyon County 4-H Program. He was a member of the Lyon County Juvenile Justice Committee and taught Conversational Spanish for Western Nevada Community College Continuing Ed. He wailed on his harmonica, pointed out constellations, and tracked satellites in the dark Silver Springs night sky. An avid outdoorsman, Bill summited Mt. Whitney twice and hiked to Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon. He loved paddling his canoe down the river and telling stories around a campfire. He was passionate about food – eating, cooking, and collecting recipes. Bill was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010. Refusing to let cancer define him, Bill continued challenging himself and enjoying life. He lived another 15 years, the last four in Seattle, WA.

Bill died peacefully in Seattle on February 7, 2025, surrounded by those he loved. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Linda de Smet Conlin, and their six children; daughter, Rachael (Marcel) Levy and children, Chaja, Samuel, Max, and Ivan; son, Joseph William; daughter, Cheyenne (Kurt) Bell and children, Noah and Axel Satica; daughter, Kyna (Scott) Moser and children, Dagan, Penelope, and Nora; daughter, Molly (Luke) Chivers and children, Willa, Ennis, and Isla; son, Dylan; and daughter-in-law, Breena Conlin.

He is also survived by three brothers and their families; Andrew, Joseph, and Gregory. He was predeceased by his parents, William George Conlin and Jane Tankard Conlin Wolf, and brother, Christopher (Kit) Conlin.

Donations in memory of Bill’s life may be made to the Amigos Anonymous Scholarship Fund, www.amigosanonymous.com.

A celebration of life for Bill Conlin will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 14, 2025 at Dayton State Park. Please bring your lawn chair, potluck dish, and stories to share.

Obituary printed in the Reno Gazette Journal on June 4, 2025.