Jurney, William
JURNEY, II, William
William Howard Jurney, II, of Pinole, California died suddenly on Monday, April 18, 2022 at home. Bill is survived by his wife, Ruth Smith Jurney; his two sons, Christopher William Jurney and Russell Howard Jurney; and his two brothers, Richard and Bruce. He will be dearly missed.
Bill was the 4th child born to William Howard Jurney, an award winning Professor of Mathematics at the Colorado School of Mines and his wife Ruth Sumpter Whitener Jurney in 1946 in Golden, Colorado. He was an unruly child and often in trouble, but was sharp, intuitive and had his father's head for numbers. He attended several colleges until he earned a business degree from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga.
Upon graduation, Bill found a calling in entrepreneurship and devoted his life to starting 50 businesses across a career spanning 55 years. His companies, schemes, and deals were wide ranging and varied. He was incredibly talented at forming companies that turned a profit. These included a trucking company with terminals spanning the southeastern states, the world's largest indoor skateboard park, the largest nightclub in the state of Georgia and a house he built with his son Russ.
Others were less successful such as the purchase and resale of cookie trucks at a loss, a shop which didn't repair cars, and a car lot which didn't sell them. Resilient in his setbacks, William and his companies employed more than one thousand people in his lifetime. He passed the entrepreneurship bug on to his two sons.
In his later years, Bill found comfort by devoting himself to community service. He proudly volunteered in the Pinole Posse to patrol higher crime areas of Pinole to deter and report crime. A week did not go by where he didn't volunteer doing several things for others: mow a lawn, build a wheelchair ramp, lend a tool or make repairs. He filled his time as a handyman charging less than half what others quoted - feeling inflation in California made prices absurd. It did not matter to Bill that he was subject to those same prices.
We would like to thank the Pinole Police Department for their kind treatment of Bill as part of their family in his passing. Many are left with fond memories of Bill, and though we wish to memorialize his life, we have decided not to have a service. According to his wishes, Bill's family will spread his ashes at Mori Point in Pacifica into the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, which he knew and loved. He was never boring.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in his name to East Bay SPCA.
