WILLIAM CHAVEZ SV'57

Bill was born into a family of eight whose father Antonio was born in the Philippines and his mother Gilda in Panama. The eight siblings consisted of four deceased, Tony SV'46, George, Eddie SV'48 (fellow SPSV Hall of Fame member), Vil SV'50 and the remaining four of Norma SV'55, Bill SV'57, Chuck SV'58 and Debbie SV'71.

Antonio, a member of the US Navy, was transferred to Mare Island in Vallejo in the 1930's and his family joined him in 1936. Their last four of the eight children were born in the USA.

At an early age, Bill was active in sports and scouting. At St. Vincent's High School in the late 1950's, he was president of the Sophomore and Senior Class of 1957. For close to 60 years now, Bill is still an active classmate, always organizing and coordinating the class reunions. He even developed and promotes their class website that keeps everyone updated on classmate news and happenings.

Later, he attended SI. Mary's College and entered the Dominican Seminary at St. Albert's for four years, earning a BA in Philosophy, and leaving in 1963.

While taking Business Courses at USF, he worked for the Catholic Social Services of San Francisco at their Home for Boys, a residential facility of some 35 teenagers who were Wards of the Court. Later he was employed full time as a Contracts Administrator for Bechtel Corporation.

He married Patricia Mueller in 1964 and has five children and nine grandchildren. During this time, Bill coached basketball at the YBA and grammar school level, taught a Business course at Miller Junior High School and was active in Scouting and Little League.

His first exposure in the Hi-Tech industry was at Raytheon Semiconductor in Mountain View where he then began an exciting and challenging career spanning over 30 years.

Bill completed his corporate business career at Adda Corporation where he was the CFO, Vice President of Finance and Administration. He had responsibility for Accounting, Finance, Human Recourses and Legal Affairs. After, he was a Management Consultant to hi-tech startups and received referrals for venture capitalist, bankers, lawyers and investors.

Bill has spent his life in service to others and his devotion to community service is inspiring. He has always been active in his parishes, serving as Eucharistic Minister, on the Parish Council and Finance Committees; involved as a community activist, mentoring immigrant Sheiks, families from India, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe and he mentored an African teenager at the request of the father. When our economy began showing signs of distress, Bill worked tirelessly in his community giving support to those in need. His door was always open to those needing encouragement and or emotional support. He was actively involved in organizing block parties and helping to combat graffiti. He spent many years with the organization “What Would Jesus Do" in Placer County. They served 30,000 homeless by providing food and medical support. In conjunction with "Hands of Hope", Bill prepared grant applications to provide funds for local students whose families were homeless. He has volunteered for various non-profits benefitting the less fortunate. In retirement, besides the children and nine grandchildren, Bill’s time is spent with his large family and friends.