Bill 'Billy' Roach, 64

Bill "Billy" Roach, 64, passed away Feb. 21, 2007, in Somers. Billy was born in Odessa, Texas, on March 31, 1943.

Shortly after graduating from high school, he joined the U.S. Marines. Most of the time he was stationed at Camp Pendleton.

With Billy's charm, he worked his way into being a swimming pool lifeguard and running a Dempsey Dunker machine, which was used to train pilots how to get out of their airplane after hitting the water.

Being that the camp is on the ocean, he took up surfing; mostly at Huntington Beach, 20 miles up the coast. Billy was discharged in 1964, and for a time became a surf bum, helping out at the local surf shops, partaking of the many beach parties and fitting into the life of a California surfer in general.

In the mid-1960s, Billy was accepted into the Garden Grove Fire Department a few miles inland of Huntington Beach.

After wrecking his Porsche, and another time ending up in the hospital for several days because, while riding his bike to work, the front tire fell through the metal grating of a storm drain., the G.G.F.D fired him; mainly because he refused to cut his hair. Billy had become a full-fledged surfer.

In 1966, he married Suzi Sullivan. His new father-in-law wanted to set him up in a very successful burger chain along the Pacific Coast Highway. This would have been a gold mine but, being an outlaw and surfer, Billy refused.

Suzi died within a year.

Billy moved to Santa Barbara, Calif., and took up fishing.

He married Linda Davis. This lasted a few years.

Billy sold his home in Santa Barbara, his boat and the docking slip (which would now be worth well more than $1 million), and they moved out-of-state to Utah. After a few years there, Billy moved back to the beach.

Life had changed in Southern California with the increase in crowds both in and out of the surf, so he moved again, this time to Whitefish. He supported himself by playing cards, mostly at Casey's Bar, and perhaps dabbling in the import-export business.

In 1990 he started spending his summers in Alaska, working as a fishing and hunting guide out of Gabbart's Fishing Camp. Winters were spent at Judy Whinny and Mike Turner's house in Columbia Falls. Billy gambled all winter and fished all summer.

In 2005 Billy became a year-round resident of Somers, selling cars in Kalispell.

Billy Roach was a true character. If you were a friend of his, he would literally give you the shirt off his back. His life reads like an adventure story. He loved women, then lost them. He had money, which also slipped away. Yet he was always there, sometimes larger than life. This Texan was born 100 years too late.

He was a true friend and will be missed by all who loved him.

There will be no official service.

Friends who want to say goodbye to Billy can get together at 5 p.m. at the Rainbow Bar on Wednesday, March 12, for drinks and storytelling about the life of Billy Roach - a true California and Montana character.