William 'Bill' Muller, 71

William "Bill" John Muller, 71, of Columbia Falls, died Jan. 2, 2025, in Kalispell. 

He was born Oct. 7, 1953, in Stockton, California, to Lillian Mae Cloos and William Frederick Muller. He joined an older sister, Barbara. Before he was school age, Bill moved with his family to Miles City. His mom married Robert "Bob" Quigley and they had a baby boy, Scott.  

Bill grew up in Miles City, graduating from Custer County District High School in 1972. 

Bill followed in his stepdad's footsteps by becoming a stone mason, first working for Montana Masonry in Miles City and then R.B. Hanson Masonry in Billings. 

In 1986, Bill suffered an elbow injury that led him to take a break from the trade. He earned college credits at Cooperative Work Experience in Billings, and then attended Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, graduating in 1988 with building inspection certifications.

Bill spent the next two years in Las Vegas, the first year as a building inspector, where he was in charge of testing the post-tensioning, concrete, and masonry on high-rise construction. The second year, he supervised a bricklaying crew on a high-rise project for Michael Masonry.

In the winter of 1990, Bill moved to the Flathead Valley after securing a job as a building inspector for the City of Kalispell. 

In the summer of 1992, he married Susan Andrews of Bigfork. They separated five years later in the winter of 1997. 

Bill worked side jobs as a stone mason so that by the mid-1990s, he could leave his building inspector job and focus solely on his company, Masonry By Muller.

Bill met Wanda Gresens in Missoula while she was earning her respiratory therapy certification. After graduating, Wanda and her daughter, Canda Harbaugh, moved to Kalispell in November 1999, where Wanda and Bill rented a home on Foy's Lake Road. 

Over the next decade, they built two homes — one on the Draggin' Ass Ranch outside Columbia Falls, where Bill lived until his death, and another on Bitterroot Lake, where they boated, hosted gatherings with family and friends, and made many memories.  

Bill enjoyed boating, hunting, driving the backroads, and traveling to warm climate destinations like Mexico and Jamaica. He took a trip to Belize in 2018. He spent mornings having coffee with friends and evenings having cocktails with friends. Bill had a soft spot for his pets — his chocolate lab Oscar, his miniature goats, and his ornery miniature donkey, Jeff.

When Bill's health began to decline, his friends were there for him until the end — Wade and Jess Preston and their four daughters, and Chad and Krista Pluid. 

Bill's legacy will live on through his masonry work, which can be seen in banks, fire stations, libraries, schools, post offices, restaurants, and high-end homes all over the Flathead Valley and the state. 

A celebration of life will be held this summer.