William James Adair
January 13, 1953 – December 13, 2025
It is with extreme sadness that we announce our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Bill Adair, passed away peacefully on December 13, 2025 at the University of Alberta Hospital where he was anxiously awaiting a lung transplant.
Dad was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in April, 2023. He fought so very hard to maintain his strength for transplant. Unfortunately, our journey took a turn on a path we never expected and he never received donor lungs.
Bill will forever be lovingly remembered by his wife of 35 years, Lora (Wilchuk), daughters Ashley (Brendan), Amber (Marc) and Amy (Michael), his grandchildren who were the absolute light of his life, Lincoln and Aubrey, and dad was anxiously awaiting the arrival of grandbaby #3 due in January.
Bill’s siblings share this tremendous loss with us; Walter, Carol, Robert, Tom (Kerrine), Holly (Peter). Bill’s nieces and nephews all had a special bond with their Uncle Bill and will miss him terribly. Lora’s family also mourn the loss of Bill, brother in law Brian(Darcey), nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles.
Bill was predeceased by his parents, Laurie and Joyce and his in-laws Stanley and Irene Wilchuk as well as many other family members and close friends.
It did not matter where Bill went or what he did, he never had a problem striking up a conversation with a stranger and forming a lasting friendship.
Bill worked extremely hard his whole life. He was an incredible mechanic by trade, working 8:00 – 5:00, then coming home and helping someone with something. He never turned down a call for help from anyone. In retirement he started a lawn care business. He not only cut the grass but he would weed your garden and the flower beds or fix a broken fence, whatever needed to be done he took care of it without being asked to do so. He also started to do snow removal and went above and beyond. Every customer loved him.
Bill was looking forward to being able to once again cut the grass, trim the trees and plant his garden. While in the hospital, Bill spoke of purchasing a fixer upper vehicle to restore for himself when he came home. Unfortunately that was not to be.
The support shown to the family at this time has been overwhelming. We’d like to share some of the words that people have used to describe Bill which shows the type of person Bill truly was to everyone: kind, gentle, generous, role model, funny, fair, helpful, dignified, respectful, gracious, practical, loving, witty. Please keep sharing your stories with us to keep his memory alive.
Our family would like to acknowledge and express our sincere appreciation to the following:
A special thank you to Dr. Homik and Debbie, the Winnipeg Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group and the Winnipeg Pulmonary Fibrosis Caregiver Support Group for their ongoing support. Bill looked forward to the monthly support meetings for good conversation and delicious cake and coffee. He spoke often to people about our amazing support group and he always felt they had our back.
Winnipeg Lung Transplant Coordinator Carly – our Winnipeg angel who worked really hard to see us off to Edmonton. Greg, the Physiotherapist who was whipping Bill into shape to be strong enough for the transplant. For ten months we went twice a week to see Greg. They bonded over Dad jokes.
Edmonton Lung Transplant Coordinator Kathryn – our Edmonton angel who worked really hard to bring us to Edmonton and Skyla, the Transplant Social worker for her support. Bill looked forward to both of them visiting regularly.
The University of Alberta Hospital, Unit 5E3 Staff – The special friendships formed with the Nursing staff will never be forgotten. Debbie, Lian, Larissa, Jennifer, Camille, Mai and Ed. Also Pat, who cleaned his room and the wonderful lady who delivered his meals. All of the staff were devastated by the loss of their special friend.?The impact BIll had on all of these special people was overwhelming and the support they provided our family will always be remembered.
Honourable pallbearers are: Bill’s nieces and nephews and his lifelong friends, who he cherished, Chuck and Sandra Murray, Doug Friesen and brother in law Brian Wilchuk.
As per Bill’s wishes, cremation has taken place and a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to the Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 3250 Bloor Street W. East Tower, Suite 600, Toronto, ON M8X 2X9 or online at cpff.ca.
Bill would be grateful if you would please consider signing up for organ donation at signupforlife.ca.
May you rest in peace my love, the struggle is over. I will always love and miss you and you will never be forgotten.
Cremation entrusted to Ashley at Simply Cremation & Funeral Services, Edmonton, Alberta.
Bill’s loss is so unbelievably tragic and my heart goes out to Lora and family as they grieve.
Bill was one of a kind! I will miss his humour , his generosity and his approach to life. We met in the 70’s at G&W machine shop where we shared valve grinding duties and lunchtime antics messing with cars. One time as he left the door open on his Beaumont it rolled back and caught on my AMX fender…and the door popped off its hinges. We had a good laugh over that and somehow he managed to secure it for the drive home. He was so impressed with my AMX and its ability to drift around curves that years later he restored his own to a much higher level and drove it out to Calgary to show me!
We got to work together again at mobile valve grinders over a summer and it was always great to spend work time together.
Over the years we kept in touch by getting together: sometimes just to talk about the guys we worked with in the machine shop back in the day or, more often with me needing some automotive help from him!
I’ll miss you buddy. I so enjoyed our time and our goofy conversations whether on the phone or in person.
I’m sure you’re well on your way to organizing that heavenly shop up there where we’ll meet again
It is with sadness that we received the news of our friend Bill’s passing. We will miss our weekly visits with Bill just showing up impromto and plunking down in our sunroom for lots of talk and laughter. He was also a great help to me in my shop working on my old cars.
Love, Mort and Darlene McKechnie
Billy was employed by Keystone Auto Repairs ( which I owned) for over 20 years . With his experience, mechanical knowledge and putting up with me, he is one of the reasons the business was successful. His patience and devotion to the company were outstanding! He was a very humble man. If I was out of town for a weekend and the garage alarm went off in the middle of the night at Keystone, he would go and check to make sure everything was all right. On Monday morning he wouldn’t even tell me that there was a false alarm. I can’t count the number of times he helped my sons or neighbours if they had a mechanical problem. Lora and his girls were always talked about; how proud he was of them. After he retired we would meet for lunch and reminisce about the “old days”. Even though his health deteriorated, Billy always made light of his situation and conveyed a positive outlook. My family and I so appreciated his generous nature and huge heart. Our sincere condolences to Lora and the whole family.
I will miss you Billy Bob, my dear friend.
Dearest Lora and family, I can not express how saddened I am off hearing about Bill’s passing. I prayed daily for him to receive his much needed lungs and strength for all of you through the process. May he breath easy and in peace.
Our deepest and sincere condolences
A quiet, humble , role model and friend.
We’re so sad.
hey billy bob, i sure missya.love , doug. .. ps, will still thro you under the bus when necesary
bill when you can count friends on one hand you took 2 spots
Very sorry to hear of Bill’s passing. My sincere condolences to his family.
Doug Adair
uncle bill, we sure are going to miss you. You are the kindest guy i’ve ever known. You helped so many people, my family included. If I ever needed help with my truck and I couldn’t do it , I would call on you. You’d always be there to help. And I’d always ask you, what do I owe you. And most of the time, his reply would be “just get off my driveway ” lol. We are really going to miss you. You had so much love for everyone around you. If it was just you and me in the shop , you didn’t care how i was doing lol you just asked how my kids were doing. I loved every minute of it. You taught me so many things about vehicles in your shop, and I am forever grateful to call you, my uncle. My kids asked about you daily, Well you were waiting for lungs. Each one of my kids have told me a memory they have of you. They loved you just as much as i do.
Uncle billI just want to thank you for everything you’ve ever done for any one of us, it was very much appreciated. This is not good bye but, see you later
My condolences to your family.
I am so sad on William ‘s passing when I came on Monday and did not see him my heart hurt.I always look forward to his drawings that he made for me when I delivery his meals.(Surya)Cherised the memories To Lorna /kids/grandkids and extended family please accept my deepest sympathy.