Bill was born September 25, 1953 in Redmond Washington to parents Dorothy Evelyn (Feyder) Sears and Elmer Henry Sears. Bill passed away from a heart attack on January 13, 2012 at Overlake hospital.

Bill was an avid artist and reader his whole life. He spent most of his career in the commercial realm, working for companies that included Sun Sportswear, Realtime Associates, KnowWonder, and Real Networks-GameHouse.

In 2001 he co-founded the independent Seattle area game developer Digital Eel with fellow game developers Rich Carlson and Ikka Keranen.

Bill championed independent game development while continuing to work in the corporate industry. He contributed design, art, and sound for titles that include Data Jammers: Fast Forward and Brain Pipe. Brain Pipe was the recipient of the "Excellence in Audio" award at the 2009 Independent Games Festival.

Bill attended Kentridge and KM High schools graduating from KM in 1972. He was currently attending Bellevue College working towards a degree in Digital Media Arts.

He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Glenda, his son Corbin (Lynda) of Buckley, his daughter Leeah (John) of Greenwater, his father Elmer (Colleen) of Prosser, his sister Sharilee (Marty) of Orofino, Idaho, his brother Jim (Sandy) of Prosser, his brother Richard (Star) of Spokane, his brother-in-law Mike Eytcheson (Cath) of Mount Lake Terrace, and his many nieces and nephews.