William Robert "Bill" Owens

William Robert "Bill" Owens, 72, of Tucson, Arizona, passed away on November 11, 2025, from complications related to lung cancer treatment. Born on July 9, 1953, in Madison, South Dakota, to Robert Owen Owens and Joanne Elaine Kurtz, Bill was the oldest of six children.

After high school, Bill set out to travel around the country and Canada, getting his start in live music touring and recording with ME and Deo Toy. He eventually settled in San Francisco, where he established himself as a national top performer in sales for a major book company, and then at Western Union, where he was the top sales performer for three consecutive years. In the late 1980s, Bill first moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he would transition his remarkable skill sets to e-learning.

A passionate pioneer of online higher education, Bill achieved his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and then his Masters in Business Administration from University of Phoenix while serving in various leadership roles for the Apollo Group, including: Director of Admissions for UOP (1985-1989) and UOP Center for Distance Learning (1989-1993); VP/COO of CPEInternet (1997-1998); and President/CEO of the College for Financial Planning, where he successfully transitioned one of the largest financial colleges at the time to online education delivery. He continued as VP of Business Development to Apollo Group subsidiaries (1999-2000), before going on to consult and serve as President for other colleges. Bill took an early retirement after serving as SVP of Admissions, EVP Campus Support, and SVP of Business Analytics at Virginia College from 2006 to 2015.

Bill was accepting, loyal, honest, and trusting. He was known for his intelligence, kindness, generosity, curiosity, creativity, gentleness, and humor. He was an avid reader, walker, patron of local and eclectic music, wine and mezcal enthusiast, and visionary singer-songwriter. After his 40-year career in higher education and organizational leadership and raising three children, Bill embraced retirement by reclaiming his passion and talent in music. Since March 2020, he wrote, recorded, and produced over 300 original songs and 25 albums, the last of which he completed from his hospital bed in his final days of life.

Bill lived life with courage, including facing a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis during his last eight months. He will forever be celebrated, loved, and missed.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert Owen Owens and Joanne Elaine Kurtz, and two siblings.

Bill is survived by his three children, Madeline Owens (30), David Owens (23), and Kate Owens (20); three siblings, Joel Owens, Cindy Smith, and Terry Owens; many dear friends; his cat, Fuz; and his life partner, Priscilla Schmidt (45).

Bill's music can be found on SoundCloud, Bandzoogle, Spotify, Bandcamp, YouTube, and other platforms under the names Blunt Objects and Did Not!. Information about his celebration of life and the release of his last album on vinyl can be directed to annatteschmidt@gmail.com.