Bill Cavenee

William Lee “Bill” Cavenee, 80, of Casa Grande, a retired Central Arizona College professor and longtime church leader, died on May 10, 2011, at the home of his daughter.
Visitation will be from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Casa Grande Stake Center. The funeral will follow at noon, with Bishop David Bennett officiating.
Mr. Cavenee was born on April 21, 1931, in Ventura, Calif., and was a son of Cecil W. Cavenee and Virginia B. Tonkins. He grew up in Ventura and loved the beach and horses. He graduated from Ventura Junior College in 1951 and enlisted in the Army. He served in the Korean War and was a first lieutenant. He later graduated from California Polytechnic State University, obtained teaching certification and also received a master’s degree in education at Cal Poly. He taught junior high school for three years in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He married Maurice Mickelson on Dec. 22, 1959, and spent two years at Oregon State University, receiving a master of science in microbiology.
He taught at Napa Junior College from 1961 until 1968, then returned to Oregon State to study radiation biology. He moved to Casa Grande in 1969 to become part of the original faculty at CAC, where he taught microbiology and anatomy and physiology until retiring in 1993. He enrolled in the CAC nursing program that year and became a registered nurse in 1995. He was active in the LDS church after his conversion in 1959. He was bishop of the original Casa Grande Second Ward from 1974 until 1980 and a member of the High Council in the Chandler and Casa Grande stakes. He and his wife went to Cambodia as humanitarian missionaries for 18 months, and he managed a project at Royal University. In 1999 they returned to help start a pediatric hospital. For the last 13 years he coordinated LDS volunteers at correctional facilities in Pinal County. He also helped with the free medical clinic in Stanfield.
He was involved with horses through the years and operated a boarding stable in the Rancho Grande neighborhood for about 30 years. He was a member of the American Quarter Horse Association, National Education Association, West Pinal Mounted Sheriff’s Posse and Phi Kappa Phi.
In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, Mikkel W. and David L. Cavenee; two daughters, Gina Calderwood and Kristin Palmer; and 23 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a sister, Barbara D. Giddens.
J. Warren Funeral Services, Cole & Maud The Gardens Chapel is in charge of arrangements.