William N. (Bill) McCluskey
PHOENIX – April 25, 1933 – January 23, 2019 Bill McCluskey, 85, died peacefully on January 23, 2019 from complications of pulmonary fibrosis. Born in Caldwell, ID, Bill’s rowdy teen years halted abruptly when he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War. He credited his army training in Straubing, Germany for the launch of his 60-year career in communications. After the war, he married Tana Gambill and became the proud dad of son Dee and daughter Traci. He and the family relocated to Arizona on a transfer with the Honeywell Corporation in 1972
Starting in the industry when computers still had vacuum tubes, Bill was proud of his customer relationships: he maintained Martin Marietta as his primary account through three changes of computer companies, and was on the team monitoring the communications for the first moon-lander on Mars. With Collins Radio (Rockwell), his team facilitated the security and access of the US-Russian communications during the Cuban Missile Crisis and NORAD alert.
He was a serial entrepreneur, co-founding DataBase Systems Corp and 4 companies with Charlotte McCluskey, whom he met on the board of directors of the Enterprise Network and married in 1991. Their life together was “a wild ride,” as they explored the wonders of each place they lived, loved and worked. They treasured the extended family their love brought together and never thought of each other’s kids and grandkids as “step-family”; Bill cleared out many a swim-up bar in more than one continent with tales of the superior attributes of his clan. Their family was enriched by the “Sisters/ Brothers from Another Mother” they gathered along the way.
Always thinking of himself as a “thirty-something,” Bill felt extremely fortunate to be hired by Titan Power at the age of 71. He relished his time mentoring and contributing to the growth of the Titan team where he retired for the third time at age 81.
Failing retirement once again, Bill devoted his last years to the LDV Winery, both at the tasting room in Scottsdale and at the vineyard during the winter pruning season. He was at his P.T. Barnham-best pouring wine and promoting LDV’s fine wines to “old friends he’d just met.”
He was always upbeat and a defender to his last day of civil rights and civil discourse.
Bill is survived by his wife Charlotte Snyder McCluskey, son William Dee McCluskey (Teressa), daughters Traci Lynne McCluskey Yarbrough (Steve), Paige Schilt (Katy Koonce), Kristen Schilt, (Patrick Jagoda), and his grandkids and great-grand kids: Allan Yarbrough (Brittany, Aaron and Faith Ann), Shaun Yarbrough, Megan Barela, Hannah McCluskey, Waylon Schilt-Koonce, and the 4th “William McCluskey,” William Cole McCluskey.
A Scottish wake will be held in his honor on his 86th Birthday, April 25, 2019, at the LDV Winery Tasting Room in Old Scottsdale, from 4:30-7 p.m. Private burial to be at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you feel so moved, a donation in remembrance to the Wounded Warrior Project, https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org, or Heifer International, http://www.heiferfoundation.org.