Obituary: William ‘Bill’ Claude Teeple

Published 12:15 am Friday, August 25, 2023

Seaside

Dec. 9, 1943 — Aug. 16, 2023

Master carpenter and outdoorsman William “Bill” Claude Teeple was born Dec. 9, 1943, to William “Curly” and Myrtle (Harmes) Teeple in Seaside. He went to heaven on Aug. 16, after a long fight with brain tumors.

Bill spent his entire life in Seaside, except for three years in the U.S. Army, saying that Seaside was the only place he ever wanted to live.

Bill was a man of high integrity and rare, but heartfelt, expressions of feelings. A lifelong and supreme outdoorsman, he spent countless hours hunting, fishing and clam digging.

Everyone who knew him was regaled by his stories. He was a deadeye with a rifle, and when bow hunting, could bugle in and approach elk within touching distance.

His favorite fishing was on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, where he went every summer for nearly 20 years, coming home with a freezer full of salmon for his annual Big Hat barbecue.

During college, Bill entered the carpenter’s apprenticeship program and became a journeyman carpenter.

Working for C&M Construction, he was assigned the job of being foreman for the construction of the Seaside Convention Center. He then started his own construction company, BSG Construction.

After a 50-year career, many of his projects stand throughout Clatsop County as a testament to his skill and imagination as a builder.

In the 1970s, he opened Bill’s Sporting Goods with his then-wife Lucille, first out of his home, then at the store he built on Avenue S and South Roosevelt Drive, Teeple’s Corner. Upon entering, customers would often exclaim, “Now this is a sporting goods store!”

Bill loved creating visions he dreamed up and riding around with his kids in his little car or his backhoe.

Bill was the rock of the family and leaves behind his wife, Kathleen; son, John Teeple (Ana Paula); daughter, Kimberly Olson (Jesse); stepson, Nick Lanzadoro (Danita); stepdaughter, Adrianna Perrault (Jim); sisters, Joanne DeHaan and Melva Hurd; brother, Leonard Teeple (Katie); his partner in adventures, Jeremy Strimple; eight grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

During the last year of Bill’s life, we wish to thank his caregiver, Judie Malinen, Pastor Jerry O’Neill and the entire staff and volunteers at Lower Columbia Hospice for their compassionate and comforting care.

A service will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 1 at Pioneer Presbyterian Church.

Ecce homo.