Bill Mccarrel

Funeral Services for Brigham J. "Bill" McCarrel will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 14, 2017 at Restoration Church, 411 S. Walsh Drive, Casper with a reception to follow.

Bill passed peacefully of heart failure at his Alcova Lake cabin on July 7, 2017 surrounded by those he loved.

Bill, a Wyoming native, was born in Laramie in 1929 to Raymond and Josephine McCarrel. His father died when he was just a child and his mother married Siguard Swenson and the family moved to Vernal, Utah. Bill came to Casper in 1949 where he worked in the oil industry after graduating from high school. In 1949 he met and fell in love with Eileen Lybyer of Lost Cabin, Wyoming. They married in December of 1950 and were married for 66 years. In 1953 he left the oil industry and started a career as a firefighter with the City of Casper Fire Department. In 1971 he was promoted to Chief of the department, where he served until his retirement in 1983. During his 30-year career at the Casper Fire Department, he served as a fire fighter, engineer, captain, union president, training director and chief. During Bill's tenure as fire chief, the department added 35 new fire fighters and four new stations.

Bill and Eileen, together with best friends, Chuck and Cec Gray, formed a partnership in 1973 building and leasing commercial warehouses still in operation by the McCarrel and Gray families.

Bill has been a member of the Lions Club of Casper since 1971. During his membership he was honored as Lion of the Year, 1981 Club President, Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo Parade Chairman, and served on the Allen H. Stewart Lions Camp Board of Directors. In 1983 he was appointed as the Administrative Director of the blind camp and held the position for a number of years. Under Bill's direction, the camp increased from a three-week summer camp for the blind to a six-month camp operation opening in June and closing in November. Because of his dedicated work, when the newest building at the blind camp was built, it was named the McCarrel Center in his honor.

After retirement, Bill and Eileen spent their summers at their home on Alcova Lake and the winter months in Yuma, Arizona. Bill and Eileen loved to travel; spending three months touring Alaska in their motorhome, traveling to Indonesia and Thailand, the Panama Canal, touring extensively in the United States and Mexico, and spending quality time with family and friends at the family timeshare in Cancun.

Bill is survived by his loving wife, Eileen, and three children - Ken (Cathy) of Thayne, Wyoming, Renee of Casper, and Duane (Dana) of Houston, Texas; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorials in Bill's name can be donated to the Allen H. Stewart Lions Camp, 3325 S. McKinley St., Casper, WY 82601 or the Casper Humane Society, 849 East E St., Casper, WY 82601.


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