William R. Lamb

William Reginald Lamb. ""Bill"" July 21, 1956 – January 2, 2014; Family man, geologist, nautical archaeologist, car lover, beer aficionado, soccer fanatic, history buff. Bill was born in Annapolis, MD, the third of six children to Captain Harold Lamb and Barbara (Thomson) Lamb. As a son of a Naval Officer, Bill acquired his love for travel and new places as his family moved around the country every few years. He inherited his love for outdoor adventure from his father who often led the family on exciting sailing, river canoeing, and backpacking trips. The family finally landed in Columbia, Missouri where Bill went to Hickman High School and then the University of Missouri. Bill accidentally graduated with a B.S. in geology and promptly drove his old VW Squareback (""the ultimate vehicle"") out to the wilds of Nevada to explore for barite, an industrial mineral. An explorationist at heart, he was always up for any adventure that involved long dusty trails, remote roads, locked gates, hot springs, and jet rangers. In the process he met his first wife, Susan Judy, and they worked in mineral exploration for five years before moving to College Station, TX so he could pursue one of his great loves, nautical archaeology. In the process of exploring for shipwrecks Bill traveled to Jamaica and Turkey where he became entranced with diving on old wrecks and imagining the lives of ancient seafarers. With a graduate degree in Nautical Archaeology and an ABD in Geology from Texas A&M University and, after the births of his daughter, Electra, and son, Theron, he and his young family moved to Richland, WA where he worked for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a computer scientist. Subsequently, in 1996 the family moved to Centennial, CO where Bill worked as a computer specialist for the mining, oil and gas, aerospace industries and most recently for the US Bureau of Land Management. Bill was very proud of his work; he took his contributions seriously but no one was ever as good at his job as he was! Bill has several lifelong passions including: Soccer, Home Brewing, Backpacking, and Sailing. He even paid extra to get English Premier Soccer games, which says something about his love for soccer! But his strongest obsession was German cars. His involvement with the Rocky Mountain Porsche Club was a very important and satisfying part of his life. Going into Bill's garage was not for the faint of heart. With two Porsches in various states of repair, tires stacked to the ceiling, and tools spread over every conceivable surface, there was nary an inch for Bill, let alone visitors. But he relished every minute he spent there and loved to share car talk with other ""motoheads."" Bill was never so alive as when he was on the track racing and this is something he shared with his second wife, Kathleen Royster. At one specific club race in Topeka, KS it was pouring rain and many many cars were off in the mud. But Bill found his groove! He knew there was a chance the weather would be grim and he prepared himself. And it paid off! The race started and all the cars sped off kicking up a cloud of mist that you could barely see through. Bill hung in with the leaders and came in 5th! It was his best race ever. Bill is survived by his daughter and son, Electra Lamb and Theron Lamb; his brothers Harold Lamb, Jr., Brian Lamb, Daniel Lamb; his sisters Jennifer (Lamb) Bolster, and Mary (Lamb) Nehring, and his parents Captain Harold Lamb and Barbara (Thomson) Lamb. A celebration of his life was held on Saturday March 29, 2014, at the Mt. Vernon Events Center. Please share your memories of William and condolences with his family by signing the guestbook below.