William Hozie

William “Bill” Hozie was born an only child on June 4, 1940 to Eunice Marie (Smith) and Fred Gregory Hozie in California (possibly Tarzana). As a young man, he was the team bowling captain for the Ridgewood Military Academy (9th-10th grades). Bill graduated from Reseda High School in 1958, then earned his BA at Valley State College in Northridge, California.

In 1963, Bill attended officer training school at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and upon completion was commissioned a second lieutenant. By now Bill, age 23, had met the love of his life, Bonnie Louise Wyatt, 20, and they married on May 11, 1963 at the Chapel in the Canyon in Canoga Park, California. Following a honeymoon in Colorado, they made their home at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas, where the bridegroom was in pilot training.

Bill and Bonnie’s marriage was tragically cut short on April 8, 1966, when Bonnie, along with Bill’s parents Fred and Eunice were killed in a head-on car crash in Kern County, California, when they were hit by 16-year-old Tom Wells, who had crossed the centerline. Also killed was the passenger in Wells’ car. Though seriously injured with a broken neck, Bill survived.

By 1968, Bill was in graduate school at San Francisco State College, where he earned an M.A. in Cultural Anthropology. He married a second time, to Mary Lee Peterson, but that union ended after less than two years. By the 1980s, he was teaching at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, having completed all but the dissertation portion for his PhD. In the 1990s, Bill moved to Holbrook Arizona, to teach at Northland Pioneer College, focusing on ancient Native Americans. Twice a year he conducted field trips to educations sites in the southwest, where students learned firsthand about the Ancient Puebloans.

In 1999, Bill became the staff anthropologist at the new “Dinosaur Park, International Petrified Forest and Museum of the Americas,” located between Holbrook and Winslow. Bill once remarked that he was known as an anthropological maverick because he invited his young scholars to formulate their own ideas on what may have happened in these areas rather than blindly following the beliefs of others. Bill also became a member of the faculty at Diné College of the Navajo Nation, and began producing the “Earthquake Newsletter,” which provided updates about earthquakes and weather-related issues from around the world. In 2014 he was honored as their professor of the year. He was also a featured listee in Who’s Who in America.

In March 2021, at age 81, Bill suffered a stroke. After an extended recovery, he resumed activities with enthusiasm, though somewhat frail. Less than a year later, he was hospitalized with Covid, where he passed away following renal failure.

Bill had many friends, some of whom helped him during the months following his stroke. Special thanks are due to Cheryl Mitchell and Randy Murph of Holbrook, Arizona, who kept track of his activities and made sure his needs were met, and his friend Carly Penrod Murray of Winslow, who met with Bill weekly and was always there for him. Bill was also “adopted” as a special friend to the Route 66 Co-Op, a non-profit group who in 2018 began rehabilitating the iconic Painted Desert Trading Post east of Holbrook. For twenty years, Bill had been a guardian of the isolated old post, covering graffiti with fresh paint and otherwise keeping an eye on it. He stopped by regularly to monitor progress as the rescue of the landmark slowly took place.

Bill Hozie’s wit, knowledge, wisdom, contributions, and friendship will be greatly missed by all who had the honor of knowing him