William Dabney Stuart III "Bill"

William Dabney Stuart III “Bill” passed away peacefully on January 28, 2025, after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was born on November 17, 1937, in St. Louis, Missouri, to William Dabney Stuart II and Mary Frank Venable and moved later with his parents to Arkansas. After his father passed, he moved with his mother and brother Jeb to Las Vegas, Nevada, where his mother accepted a job as a school teacher. He graduated from Las Vegas High School and served in the United States Army, subsequently receiving an honorable discharge. 

Bill worked for Anheuser-Busch as a delivery driver and enjoyed a rich social life in Las Vegas, where he met and became friends with well-known actors and performers of the day. After leaving Anheuser-Busch, Bill began his career with the Union Pacific Railroad as a conductor. Bill married the love of his life, Ilona Bahe, on April 17, 1970, in Salt Lake City, Utah, just as he professed, he would on their first date. 

His heaven on earth was his wife, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He loved taking trips to Yellowstone with his wife and family, a tradition his mother began with him and his siblings. Being a devout fisherman, Bill’s summers were spent at Fish Lake where, while fishing on the boat and when least expected, he would often burst into song at the top of his lungs, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” by Hank Williams. He enjoyed watching college football and basketball with his grandkids and he may have been the inventor of “multi-View”, having 6 strategically placed TV screens in his basement. He and Mom were avid University of Utah fans. He was fond of pet names and loved calling daughter Kari, “Punkin” and son Bill, “Tiger,” their granddaughter, “EB,” and their four grandsons, “Opie Dopie”. He and wife Ilona enjoyed doing projects around the house, making “Patrick Eggs” and Coke floats for the grandkids, catching up with friends and family, and obsessively mowing the lawn.

Bill is survived by his beloved wife Ilona and daughter Kari Jones (Mark Huggins) from a previous marriage to Alicia Ann Blair, their son William Dabney IV (Nicole) Stuart, granddaughter Elizabeth Stuart (Judd) Thompson, grandsons Patrick Stuart Jones, William “Liam” Dabney Stuart V, Dallin Bahe Stuart, Greyson Michael Barrett Stuart, great-grandchildren Henry Thompson, Grant Thompson, and Sadie Thompson, and brother James Ewell Brown “Jeb” (Linda) Stuart and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents William Dabney Stuart II and Mary Frank Venable, sisters Florence (Loren) Roberts, Beth (George) Schichtl, and Sally (Bud) Hudspeth.  

The family offers their sincere thanks to Canyons Home Care & Hospice, Beacon Crest Assisted Living, and the many people that helped in his care over these past three years. A viewing will be held Saturday, February 8, 2025, at 10:00 am followed by a celebration of life at 11:00am and interment at Larkin Sunset Gardens located 1950 East 10600 South in Sandy, Utah.