Bill Meehan, aka “Billy”, aka “OooRah”, aka “Gunny” 80 of Butler, Pennsylvania departed this life on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at the Butler VA’s Sergeant Joseph George Kusick Community Living Center after a courageous nearly three decades long battle with service related Leukemia, Lymphoma, head and neck cancer, skin cancer, and other related illnesses. He was 80 years old. Bill’s illness did not define him, however. His strength, courage, and love of life did. It is always a difficult task to try and sum up a person and their life in a few columns in a newspaper, but, where Bill Meehan is concerned, it is close to impossible. Bill’s life was just that unique, challenging, and full. In Native American and Ancient Celtic traditions, being a warrior is about far more than fighting. It is about serving the community, helping during difficult times, protecting mother earth and all the living beings that call her home. It is about striving to overcome one’s own weaknesses, continuing to grow more human throughout one’s life, and facing and overcoming all adversities on one’s path. Bill was a warrior in this ancient sense of the word.
Bill was born in Youngstown, Ohio on October 5, 1942. He was the son of the late William and Marjorie (Arris) Meehan and the oldest of 4 Meehan children. From early boyhood, Bill heard the call of the wild, and would often take off into the Ohio woods for hours, much to the chagrin of his mom and dad. He loved nature, animals, fishing, and hunting. This was a calling that would last throughout his life and was nurtured especially by his Grandma Nannie Meehan, who taught him about the Cherokee, Tuscaroras, and Native American spirituality. He moved with his family to Pennsylvania when he was about 10 and was a 1961 graduate of Butler High School where he participated in the state champion gymnastics team coached by a mentor Bill loved and respected throughout his life, Coach Paul “Red” Uram.
Bill told his family that when he was in Junior High, he decided he was going to be a United States Marine. Upon graduation from Butler High, he received a congressional nomination to the US Military Academy at West Point and he traveled there with his parents to check it out, but Bill’s Junior High decision to be a US Marine remained in his heart and he enlisted in the Marine Corps at the Butler recruiting office. He excelled in his recruit training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC where he became the first ever Butler County Marine to be chosen for the Marine Corps’ “Blues Award” which is presented to only one recruit out of all those graduating who most nearly attained the characteristics of the “Ideal Marine” on the basis of outstanding character, leadership, military bearing, physical condition, and performance of military skills, duties, and marksmanship. He was meritoriously promoted to the rank of Private First Class.
Thus began Bill’s career in the Marine Corps which included being part of the US Marine expeditionary response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He trained extensively to become a Force Reconnaissance Marine and served 3 tours in Vietnam. He was stationed at the Marine Base in Khe Sanh during the Siege of Khe Sahn. During the Vietnam era, he was part of a team that developed a new ropes insertion and extraction SPIE system for small special ops teams to get in and out of dangerous spots quickly that is still used by Special Ops teams today. Bill also served as a Marine Recruiter in the Reserves.
During several years following Vietnam, Bill struggled with the diseases of alcoholism, and, later, with cancers related to exposure to agent orange and exposure to toxins in the water at the Marine Corps base Camp LeJeune. Some of the dearest friends Bill made were through the 12 step program of AA. Bill wanted to express his deep gratitude to the fellow alcoholics who made it possible for him to recover from that addiction. Bill met his “anam cara” soul mate, Marianne, in the rooms of AA. After he achieved sobriety, Bill sponsored many men who were struggling like he was when he walked into his first meeting. Two weeks before Bill died, he celebrated his 29th year anniversary of sobriety.
Bill’s daughters, Cortnie and Shawn, told their dad that his alternate middle name could be “I fight cancer”. CLL and SLL and other cancers ravaged Bill’s health intermittently for nearly 30 years. Leukemia specialists were amazed by how many times Bill was truly close to death from these cancers and the aggressive treatments he had to endure, and then, lo and behold, he would somehow fight through and go into remission. His niece, Jennifer, called her uncle “Bounce Back Bill.” Bill never lost his love of life and will to live in spite of everything cancer threw at him. He often encouraged and comforted other cancer patients in the Chemo treatment rooms. His stepson, Brennan, who helped care for Bill during the last few years of his life, was inspired and amazed by how Bill managed to keep a positive outlook on life through every hardship and never lost his goofy sense of humor. Bill was beloved by many nurses and doctors who cared for him because of his upbeat attitude and never ending ability to make them laugh. Bill and Marianne feel so blessed by the outstanding medical professionals who cared for Bill over the years – especially those working at the Butler Cancer Center and the Butler VA CLC Hospice.
,Bill had an absolutely deep and all encompassing love for children. He felt children were naturally close to the holy spirit and he longed to be in their presence. His kids, his grandkids, his great grandkids, his stepsons, other people’s kids – all brought him so much joy. He felt badly that he missed some of his own kids growing up years due to being deployed and to his struggles with alcoholism, but he hoped they knew anyway how deeply he loved them. Bill and Marianne’s youngest grandchild, baby Thea, and great granddaughters, Layla and Aviana, brought Bill so much joy through video calls and photos during his time in hospice. When Marianne would add a new baby Thea photo to his grandpad, Bill’s face would just light up!
Bill somehow fit into his adventurous life some years as a big game hunting guide in Alaska! He also traveled to Africa with some of his hunting guide peers. He was a creative artist, too – he created so much beauty through his painting, drawing, and making authentic native american replicas including incredibly detailed and exquisite native american beading. He had a stellar rock collection and was known to freely give crystals and artwork away to an admirer.
Bill loved going on rides in the country with Marianne – the pair was very skilled at spotting wildlife and knew the locations of several bald eagle, hawk, osprey, and owl nests in and around Butler County. Bill and Marianne made many trips to Elk County, the last one made possible by Shawn and her husband, Scott just a month before Bill died. They also made many trips to the Marvin Joe Curry Veterans Powwow up in the Seneca Nation in New York together, with Brennan and once with their beloved friends, Billy Lafferty and Cindy Monks. They took kids and grandkids to Tioga County and the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon which were times they cherished. In the summer of 2021, Bill and Marianne enjoyed an amazing trip to Cherokee, NC where they had front row seats to the Cherokee Nation’s long running outdoor drama, “Unto These Hills”. Later in 2021, Bill, Marianne, and Brennan marched for voting rights in Washington DC with thousands of fellow citizens. Bill carried a homemade sign that said “Now You’ve Pissed Off Grandpa” in his wheelchair, which was a big hit!
Bill is survived by his beloved wife, Marianne Smith-Meehan of Butler, his brother George “Spike” and his wife Judy Meehan, of Butler, and his sister Laurie Christy, of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his children, Shawn and her husband, Scott Mitchell, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Shannon J. Meehan, of Manassas, Virginia, Cortnie L. Watson, of Aurora, Colorado, and Joshua and his wife, Brittney Meehan, of Butler. He is survived by his step-children Ryan and his wife Stephanie Bock, of Villa Park, Illinois, Sean Bock and his fiancee, Debarati Ghosh, of Elmhurst, Illinois, and Brennan T. Bock, of Butler. He is survived and blessed by nine grandchildren Eric Mitchell and his fiancee’, Shawnee Terrell, Heather Mitchell and her fiance’, Chris America, Malik Watson, Maliah Watson, Maiya Watson, Blayke Meehan, Jaysa Meehan, Zoey Meehan, and Thea Bock, as well as three great grandchildren, Dylan Mitchell, Aviana Mitchell, and Layla Mitchell. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews, cousins, and cherished friends.
In addition to his parents, Bill was preceded in death by his little sister, Susie Meehan.
Family and friends will be received on Saturday, August 26, 2023 from 11 AM -1 PM in the SPENCER D. GEIBEL FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, 140 NEW CASTLE RD. BUTLER, PA 16001, WWW.SPENCERDGEIBEL.COM. A Catholic Blessing Service and full military honors will immediately follow in the funeral home.
A Celebration of Life will follow later this Fall. Details will be forthcoming.