William ‘Bill’ Gary Chrstian
June 13, 2023
William ‘Bill’ Gary Christian passed to his heavenly home on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Bill was born in Nogales, AZ and was raised in Riverside, CA where he graduated with a degree in music education. He served in the U.S. Army as a sharpshooter, parachutist and musician and was deployed during the Bay of Pigs mission in Cuba. Bill found his way to Oakhurst as a Music Educator for Yosemite High School where he led the school band and choir.
Bill moved several times during his life teaching, establishing large-scale local productions and was able to pursue hobbies of karate, sailing and motorcycling throughout Washington, California and Arizona. He put together bands to play gigs for various events, and for awhile was able to live on a cruise ship as a band member cruising the Caribbean Sea.
Bill was a very gifted musician with the ability to play many instruments at a professional level teaching countless students in private and group lessons everywhere he went and finally in Arizona.
Bill is survived by his sister Sally Jolly and niece, Brandy Mazota of Indiana and his two sons, Gary James Virgil Christian of San Francisco, CA, and William Patrick Christian of Marina Del Rey, CA. Bill will be laid to his final rest in Oakhill Cemetery in Oakhurst, CA next to his parents Virgil ‘Pat’ and Margaret Christian, who were Oakhurst residents.
