Aug. 24, 2016

Former Cresenta-Cañada Rotary Club president and district governor Bill Godbey passed away on Aug. 24. He lived with his wife Roberta at Lake of the Ozarks.

Bill served as a Marine Corps pilot in the Pacific in WWII and in Korea during which time he was shot down. He survived at sea three days in a lifeboat before being rescued. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel before leaving the Marines to start a development company with his brother Chuck in Glendale in the early 1960s. He was responsible for building the La Cañada Country Club.

Bill was a member of the Crescenta-Cañada Rotary Club and was elected club president before advancing to district governor in 1965 and later PDG in 1966. He and his wife at the time, Vivian, travelled extensively in the U.S. and overseas representing the RI president.