William E. (Bill) Ormond of Cool, Calif., succumbed to esophageal cancer in his home on February 13, 2010 after a lengthy illness. He was 67 years old. The Oakland native owned and operated a large construction/dump truck company in Hayward from 1966 to 1981. He was involved in freeway construction as well as supplying most of the engineered fill material used for BART stations from Fremont to Oakland.

After selling his company he entered the mortgage banking business, moving from agent to manager to vice president and manager of First Security Loan, where he developed a presence in the greater Bay Area before moving to the Sierra Foothills. In May 2009 he joined Comstock Mortgage in Roseville, Calif. Bill was educated in Oakland schools and earned an AA degree in management and accounting from California State University Hayward. He was as competitive in leisure pursuits as in business, leading him to five national championships sailing his Express 37, a win in the Transpacific yacht race in 1981, and a reputation as a winning competitor in the San Francisco Bay as well as up and down the coast of California, with memberships in Oakland's Metropolitan Yacht Club and the St. Francis Yacht Club. He also enjoyed breeding quarter horses, competing and winning in cutting horse events in the Western US, belonging to the American Quarter Horse Assn., American Paint Horse Assn., Clements Cutting Club and Northern Counties Cow Horse Assn.

Ormond was a member of California Association of Mortgage Brokers and was a licensed real estate agent. He is preceded in death by his parents Charles and Betty Ormond of Oakland and survived by his wife Karen of Cool, Calif., brother Robert Ormond of Angels Camp, Calif.; daughters Kimberly Warford of Pleasanton, Calif., and Stacey Ormond of Twain Harte, Calif., step-children, Cheryl Godfrey of San Leandro, Calif., Folger Emerson of New York, N.Y., and Kinney Edlinger of Lafayette, Calif.; ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Bill's life was held on February 22, 2010 in Auburn, Calif. His family requests donations to Sutter Auburn Faith Hospice, 11775 Education St., Suite 201, Auburn, CA 95602 in his honor.