WILLIAM ARLO OOMS

William (Bill) Arlo Ooms was born July 18, 1953. Bill was the third of four children born to Anne and Bert Ooms of Sunnyside.

He attended Sunnyside Christian Elementary and graduated from Sunnyside High School in 1971. Bill attended the University of Washington on a full academic scholarship, where he studied physics.

He moved to Santa Barbara, Calif. in the 1970s to be closer to his sister, Andrea and her family. This is where he met the love of his life, Leslie Battin, whom he married on July 24, 1982. They were blessed with three wonderful sons, Justin, Jordan and Ethan, whom they raised in the Santa Ynez Valley.

Bill was the owner of Ooms Concrete Construction Inc. founded in 1980. Every person who had the opportunity to work with him felt blessed and enriched. Within the Santa Ynez Valley, you can see his handiwork in many buildings and estates. Years ago his concrete countertops and table tops were featured in Sunset Magazine.

Bill will be remembered as a man after God's own heart and a true servant. Whenever there was a job that needed doing or a friend needed help, Bill would move mountains to fill the need.

For the past decade Bill and his family have been intimately involved with a Christian Youth camp in Costa Rica named La Montaña. He volunteered his expertise in concrete construction to build roads and other structures at La Montaña as well as working here at home, raising funds through BBQ's and other events.

Bill was a dedicated supporter of Christian education. He served on the Santa Ynez Valley Christian Academy School Board for more than 20 years. He served as a deacon and an elder in the Santa Ynez Presbsyterian Church. His primary focus and love was with the pre-school and children's ministries.

Bill loved the Lord with all of his heart and soul and mind and body. His daily routine started at 5:30 a.m. with a giant pot of coffee followed by the day's reading in The One Year Bible. He prayed continually for his family, friends, employees and anyone else the Lord brought to his mind. The daily newspaper puzzles, every single one, were completed by the time his wife arose later.

Bill played basketball twice a week with longtime friends. This weekly routine had been a regular part of his life for 30 years. Snow boarding, scuba diving, paintballing and volleyball were sports he enjoyed with his sons. Car talk, repair and restoration were pleasures he shared with his eldest son. Pig hunting in Texas with his best friends was a memorable experience. Bill was a master of the wood BBQ method. He was renowned especially for his pork spareribs.

In 2006 Bill, and his younger sons, Jordan and Ethan, became certified scuba divers and enjoyed many trips to the Channel Islands, San Diego, Calif. and the Goleta coast in search of fresh scallops, fish and lobster. Bill would continually experiment with different ways to prepare the bounty from barbequing to smoking to deep-frying. He recently caught a large Ling Cod, which he deep-fried with beer batter along with fresh onions.

Family was always at the center of Bill's life. Family camping trips in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Mount Adams in Washington with the entire Ooms clan of more than 30 people was an annual Labor Day event. Saturday night homemade pizza was a weekly tradition in the Ooms' household. Everyone was invited to drop in. One of Bill's passions was to create different combinations for pizza toppings. The house was always open to guests and his sons would fill the dining room with their friends. Whenever Bill could talk anyone into a card or board game after pizza the evening would be extended into the late hours. With a fiercely competitive spirit and calculating mind, Bill enjoyed all challengers…and would usually win. His beloved daughter-in-law, Xenia, was his closest match.

On Feb. 1, 2013, Bill was transferred from this earthly life to the presence of God.

He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Leslie; his sons, Justin, Ethan, Jordan; daughter-in-law, Xenia; his mother, Anne Besteman; his sisters, Andrea (Allan) Moehle, Rose (Gary) Herndon, and Wendy (Dean) Bognar; and numerous nieces, nephews along with their children.

Services to celebrate Bill's life will be held Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, at 4 p.m. at Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church, 1825 Alamo Pintado Road, in Solvang.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Santa Ynez Valley Christian Academy, 891 N. Refugio Rd., Santa Ynez, Calif.

Loper Funeral Home in Ballard, Calif. is in charge of arrangements.