William Arthur Sievert

Birth date: Mar 14, 1947 Death date: Nov 19, 2017

William (Bill) Arthur Sievert lived with a passion as deep as it was rich. His family, many loved ones and all the causes he championed are poorer for losing him. Bill died November 19, 2017. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Willia Read Obituary

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Patsy Truxaw

398w ago

I knew Bill on both coasts. First when I lived in DC where he was one of many housemates in at least one but I think two group houses. We were alternative journalists, it was the early 70s, Vietnam era, and Bill brought passion, insight, withering remarks and humor into our lives. He was one of what my mother dubbed, That Bunch. Later, we both ended up in California, me returning to the OC and Bill seeking his future in the Bay Area. On two occasions Bill and John opened their home in SF and Richmond when I was considering and eventually relocating to the Bay Area. I was blessed to observe the early days of their relationship, one of the most enduring among my peers. I was there when Bill and John adopted a senior citizen. We played bridge, talked politics, smoked, drank wine and always always with Bill, laughed and listened to music. A lot of Poco. Bill could be very silly, get giddy. In recent years his Facebook presence sustained, amused and ignited me. His passion for social justice, his love of music and his community, his discipline to run a business and still write, to publish a novel, to keep writing and speaking out until the very end. I miss your voice out there every day, brother Bill. You inspire me not to give up, to carry on the good and urgent fight. And to laugh.
Patsy Truxaw

Linda Hanley Finigan

399w ago

I first knew Bill in DC in the early 70s, when he was working for The Chronicle of Higher Education and sharing a house with our ragtag group of alternative journalists. He was one of the sweetest people I've ever known, funny and generous and kind. Bill made more money than any of us at the time; he drove a real car and often would take us on countryside adventures when the pressures of the city and our political struggles became too much. We'd drive through Virginia and Maryland, dreaming of the lives we wished we had. In many ways, Bill was like a father to us then. Later, when he met John, their caring and commitment showed many of us what love and devotion looked like—and this at a time long before unions like theirs were common. I regret not being able to be in Florida for the upcoming memorial, but I will always remember Bill. I think of him every day. May your journey be filled with peace, dear friend.

Rudy Maxa

408w ago

Bill was my first editor at the OU Post when he was a senior. And he allowed me to share his apartment in DC for a quarter when I was doing an academic internship in the US Senate--I slept on the sofa. He was unfailingly generous with advice and hospitality.

When I began by career in DC as a reporter in DC upon graduation, he continued to offer great professional advice, and when he opened his gift store in Rehoboth Beach, DE, I was a frequent customer as I spent summer weeks there with my young kids.

His warmth, sense of humor, and generosity will remain forever in my memory.

--Rudy Maxa

Walt Borton

409w ago

In three short years from 1966 to 1969 the moral courage, sense of humor, humanity and sense of justice that were at Bill's very core, fostered memories that have sparkled for me for nearly half a century. From putting banana peels in the toaster oven in Rich Pesin's office at the Post - based on the rumor they might turn into an unnamed controlled substance - to an elevator trip in Bill & Tom Hodson's DC apartment building with the guys from the FBI Academy & the female Impersonators from next door, to a road trip in my old Rambler with Bill & Tom & Dave Stivison to witness a total eclipse of the sun - to an early August 1969 east coast train ride so Bill could cover Janice Joplin's press conference at the Atlantic City Pop Festival (including a stay in a fleabag hotel with an elevator that never quite stopped at floor level), the ride was filled with laughter, intense conversations, fierce arguments, a drink or two, and a friendship of such depth it is destined to endure all passages. In three short years from 1966 to 1969 the moral courage, sense of humor, humanity and sense of justice that were at Bill's very core helped me understand what was true, what was important, what was funny, and what was worthy of complete commitment. In June of 1968, we listened together as Ted Kennedy said of his brother Robert, words that came instantly to mind when I learned of Bill's passage. "to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, who saw suffering and tried to heal it, who saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him . . pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others, will someday come to pass for all the world." My tears mingle with yours John.

Cathy Martindale

409w ago

Bill and others of us Posties spent many a long night in the office getting the paper out. He was so conscientious about getting things just right, but even in the most frenzied moments he was kind and cheerful.
He, I and three other Posties set off on a spur-of-the moment drive to California on spring break 1969. We stopped in St. Louis where we tried to topple the St. Louis Arch, took turns standing on the commode to peer out the one tiny window of our fleabag Denver motel at a glimpse of the Rockies, locked the keys in the car at the top of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, discovered Mexican food (well, Taco Bell) in southern California. It was a crazy trip but the sort of fun you need to have when you are young and Bill was a huge part of it.

Julie Lehr

409w ago

I met Bill at Ohio University in early 1968 when I became a staff writer for The Post. He was an experienced editor with skills I envied. Luckily for me and many others, Bill was a willing mentor. Near the end of that school year ('67-'68), he hired me as a "campus editor" for the 1968-69 academic year, when he was editor-in-chief. His faith in me was a huge compliment and it changed my career path. Recently, I reconnected with Bill on Facebook, where I greatly enjoyed his insights and still incredible writing skills. Rest in peace, dear friend.
From an old Post,
Julie (Snider) Lehr

Ken Steinhoff

409w ago

This is the Bill I knew at The OU Post. I took these on September 26, 1968.

Mark Roth

409w ago

I met Bill as a student reporter for the Ohio University Post, where he was editor for part of my time there, and we reconnected later on Facebook. I admired Bill as a young journalist in the turbulent 60s, and then, from afar, as a compassionate, impassioned gay rights activist, family man, entrepreneur and all around good guy. I was shocked and saddened to hear this news, but it is gratifying to see all the love and support that has surrounded him through these years.

I have fond memories of one post-OU road trip that we took when we lived in Connecticut, joining Bill and some of our other friends in the much less user friendly but nevertheless exciting New York of the 1970s. Bill insisted that we find an Orange Julius stand, a quest that took up a good part of our afternoon.

I know that God's loving embrace will sustain his husband, family and friends.

Mark Roth

Tom Price

409w ago

Bill’s death comes as a terrible shock to me. He was making happy Facebook posts just a week before he died. I’d known Bill probably since he set foot on campus at Ohio University in 1965. We lived in the same dorm, both studied journalism, and both worked at The Post, the student newspaper, where he succeeded me as editor. Bill was a great friend, a terrific journalist and later in his life a successful entrepreneur. His love and knowledge of old rock-and-roll was such that, if you told him the title of a song, he could tell you not only name of the artist but the label and the color of the label! Because of his jaunts through various journalism gigs, he helped me get freelance work at the Chronicle of Higher Education and Earth News Service, an alternative radio news service which he ran. I often joked that, of all our gang from Ohio U. and The Post, Bill and John had the longest relationship except for Mark and Carol Roth who married while still in college. Bill, you are missed. My deepest sympathies to John and the Sievert family.

-- Tom Price

Diana Lucas

409w ago

Bill was a great friend and always great company. Over the years we had a lot of good times. One of the best (and funniest) was working together to create the photo/collage for the cover of his wonderful, campy book, Sawdust Confessions. While photographing the rocks in the water I slipped and fell into Lake Dora, and the hand model had a meltdown when her stick on nails wouldn't come off.
I feel very lucky to have 15 years of good memories of times spent with Bill and John.
How lucky all of us are whose lives were touched by Bill and how lucky we are to have known someone that makes saying goodbye so hard.

Diana Lucas

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