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William"Bill" Warder, 79, died October 20, 1999. He was born July 23, 1920 in the mountain village of Guadalupita, NM. He grew up in Raton and left to attend and graduate from UNM, attend the Art Students League in New York and graduate school at UCLA. He is survived by many family members and friends who became his family: his wife, Betty; children, Emily Mebust and husband, Joel, Margaret Montoya and husband, AB, Rebecca Teller and husband, Rick, Susan Warder, Tom Warder and wife, Judy, Benita Cooper and husband, Bob, and Alice Seely; grandchildren, Wesley, Thomas and Nathan, Audrey and Adam, Sam and Robin, Zachary and Summer, Sean and Rachel, Beth, Chris and Tristan; and great-grandson, Corey. Also surviving him are his sisters, Carrie Buckley and Irene Rivera and husband, Pantaleon; and beloved nephew, John Warder. Friends who were also part of his family include Andre and Josette Ducass, Lee Murrah and Daniel Gabaldon, as well as too many more to list. He served in the US Army as a mapmaker during WWII in the Pacific Theater. Although he objected to being identified by any one description, Bill was a lifelong artist and writer. His first notable work was a mural in a public library for the WPA Arts Project in 1937. His murals grace the walls of many, many schools and public buildings in Albuquerque and throughout New Mexico. He will be remembered by children, now adults, for introducing them to a"blue horse with a red tail" in the hundreds of classrooms he visited as the first Artist in The Schools for New Mexico. Bill shared his special vision and guided children and adults to recognize and believe in themselves, not only as artists, but as human beings of good will. During the early 80's, he hosted his own television show called"How to be an Artist" on KNME. His emphasis was on the joy of experiencing art. Bill has been listed in"Who's Who in American Art" for many years. He is the author of the work Answering an Inner Voice, as well as several more yet unpublished works. He speaks his own epitaph by stating,"The beginning and the end are connected to each other and somehow are the same. Find the end at the beginning and you will always see the beginning at the end." Graveside services will be held at Sunset Memorial Park, 924 Menaul Blvd. NE, at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, October 25. Many thanks to all at Lovelace Hospice and Aspen Funeral Alternatives.
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