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Tunisa and Jordan RPCV William "Bill" Statham dies at 70
Tunisa and Jordan RPCV William "Bill" Statham dies at 70
WILLIAM "BILL" STATHAM Age 70 - Died unexpectedly at his Santa Fe home on December 15th. He is survived by his wife, Patty, The former Patricia Joyce (nee Thomas) and step children: Tom Joyce, architectural blacksmith, with his wife Julie, a dancer and two daughters, Kate a senior in high school and photography intern for the New Mexican, Irene, a ninth grader who is also a dancer; Ben Joyce, fine art framer, his wife, Julie photographer, all of Santa Fe, and Betsy Joyce. Graphic designer of Oakland, California. A resident of Northern New Mexico since 1968, Bill was born in Oklahoma City.
He considered Santa Fe his true home after living here - on and off for the last 30 years. In Bill's first years in Santa Fe he worked as a resource person in the Office of Economic Opportunity, the "war on poverty" state agency. In the early 1970's he lived in El Rito where he and his wife, Patty, started a successful business "En Punto" making top of the line quilts and wall hangings. In 1986 they worked in Tunisia and Jordan as Peace Corps Volunteers assigned to save the Children. Bill used his solar building, organic gardening, small scale business and "people" skills in several remote Berber / Arab villages.
in the early 1990's he went to Panama to help install solar water systems in Indigenous mountain communities. Bill Statham was a skilled "fixer-upper" and spent the last few years plying that craft. During the last two legislative sessions he also worked for Capitol Government Reports, where he handled reporting on actions taken by the House of Representatives and its committees. Bill was preceded in death by his father, Charles, when Bill was 12 years old. His oldest brother Morris died in a tragic auto accident near Roswell more than a quarter century ago. another brother, Fr. Dennis, OSB, died two years ago in St.
Gregory's Abbey in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His mother, Margaret Mary, a widow with grown sons entered a Benedictine convent in Tulsa, where she took the religious name, Sr. Mary Joseph. She died at an advanced age in the early 1980's. Statham was an army veteran of World War II held a masters degree in education from Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. and a masters in philosophy from the Maryknoll Seminary in New York. He spent 10 of his younger years working with the native people of Taiwan. Bill resigned the active ministry when he came to Santa Fe. Bill continues his many contributions to all of us at UNM Health Sciences Center.
Family members have announced plans to hold an house at the family home at 1302 Maclovia, in Bill's memory on Sunday afternoon from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Bill wanted, and his family will be most grateful, for donations to PFLAG of Santa Fe, P.O. Box. 16498, 87506, in lieu of flowers.