Victoria, British Columbia - With grace and gratitude, Bill Israel's life journey ended at the Royal Jubilee Hospital on June 11, 2026, at the time of his choosing. He was held in the arms of his family and surrounded by love, music, art, poetry, and flowers.

Born and raised on the high plains of the American Midwest, Bill was the son of Howard Israel and Thelma Sprout and a loving big brother to Helen. In 1966, he graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Master of Theology and was ordained a United Methodist minister. He served as a pastor in Dodge City and Wichita until his involvement in the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests put his pastoral career in jeopardy.

After he left the church, and organized religion, in 1972 Bill shifted his focus and for the next six years ran a wilderness adventure program for distressed teenagers. Bill was a gentle giant of a man, who spoke with a soft Kansas twang and listened with his whole heart. Helping those who were troubled, vulnerable or marginalized became the through-line of his life.

At a crossroads in 1978, Bill was lured to Montreal by a management consulting company. There he met Barbara Greeniaus, beginning a love story that would unfold, with ever deeper connections, over the next 47 years. In 1983, he launched his own human resource management and training consulting company, first in Winnipeg, where he and Barbara had settled, and then in Vancouver and Victoria.

From his arrival in Victoria, Bill contributed greatly to the community, serving as a board member and the board chair of Big Brothers and Big Sisters from 1990-2000. He was also an Honorary Life Member of the United Way of Greater Victoria, having been a board member from 2000 and board chair from 2006-2010. His other enduring community commitments included the Centre for Earth and Spirit, the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, the Restorative Justice Coalition, and the Laren Society (Bill Mudge Halfway House).

For a couple of years of retirement Bill was happy with a simpler life, walking Mattie, his beloved Australian Blue Heeler, and playing golf with good friends at Cordova Bay Golf Course. In 2014 he found his true calling, when he became a certified facilitator of Dr. Ira Progoff's Intensive Journal program. Over the next decade, he led hundreds of workshops in Canada and the northwestern United States. He understood the power of the writing process and believed that every individual who sat with him, pen and paper in hand, had the power to navigate positively through life transitions. His work engaged people in their own healing process, and he took profound joy in helping people overcome trauma and find their way forward in life.

Up until a series of health crises forced him to cut back his workload in 2025, Bill volunteered weekly at William Head federal penitentiary, New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community, the Umbrella Society, the Salvation Army, Our Place, and Family Caregivers of British Columbia.

Bill's loss is being deeply mourned by many, most especially his cherished wife, Barbara Greeniaus; his sisters-in-law Gloria Greeniaus, Sheridan Greeniaus and Mary Greeniaus; his brothers-in-law John Greeniaus, Ted Greeniaus and Robert Graham; his nieces and their partners, Rebecca Graham and Towagh Behr, Elizabeth Greeniaus and Bakary Diaby; and the lovely grands Aya Behr, Rose Behr, and Grace Behr.

According to his wishes, Bill's body was returned to the earth in a green burial at Royal Oak Burial Park on June 17, 2026.

A celebration of life will be planned for a later date when friends can gather to share dry martinis and tell their favourite Bill stories.

Bill loved Mary Oliver's lines: "Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life!" The way that Bill lived his "wild and precious life" was an example for us all.

In Bill's honour, please support any of the non-profit agencies with which he worked.