William G. Golson

Fort Collins lost a free-spirited adventurer and fun-loving outdoorsman, father, husband and friend with the passing of William "Will" Golson, 67, of Fort Collins on Friday, September 30.

Friends and family remember Will as a warm and caring man who remained a kid at heart, always made others laugh and embraced living life to the fullest. His playful spirit, sunny disposition, and never-ending sense of wonder and desire to explore will be held forever in their hearts and deeply missed.

Will was born December 3, 1948 in San Francisco, California. He grew up in Oyster Bay, New York enjoying the New England woods as an active Boy Scout. Later his family relocated back to California where he graduated from San Rafael High School in 1966.

Will attended the University of California, Santa Cruz where he received an undergraduate degree in Physics. He embraced the 1960s California lifestyle, taking his Honda motorcycle for midnight rides over the Golden Gate Bridge, playing his favorite artist Bob Dylan on heavy rotation, and sporting an army jacket over his proper style loafers — which often made him stand out as a New Englander in the land of Levi's and surf shorts. Will met the mother of his sons, Emily, at Santa Cruz and they were married in 1972 in Manhattan Beach, California.

In 1972 they relocated to a secluded home outside of Concord, Massachusetts. Will loved being away from the city, while still being only a train ride away from his computer programming job in the Beacon Hill area of Boston. It was here he bought a used Volkswagen Bus with a "Get High on Mountains" bumper sticker and spent time hiking and bicycling throughout New England. Will enjoyed weeks-long bicycle trips with only his sleeping bag strapped to the back of his bike, stopping to sleep in farm fields along the way.

In 1976, Will was accepted into nine PhD programs across the country, but decided to attend the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Here he fell in love with Michigan Wolverines football, earned his PhD in Computer Science and became father to his first son Seth who was born in 1982. Soon after the family moved to Houston, Texas, where Will taught Computer Science at Rice University. While in Texas Will's second son Alec was born in 1988.

In 1989, Will accepted a position at Hewlett Packard and the family moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. The corporate setting was a change of pace, and for the first time he ditched his New England loafers for tennis shoes, and embraced the outdoor lifestyle of the Front Range. He met his current wife, Deborah Artzer in 2001, and they were later married in 2011 in Fort Collins. At the time of his passing, Will was employed as Webmaster for the Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service in Fort Collins.

Life in Colorado afforded him ample time outdoors and room to explore, and even though the VW bus was gone, Will spent his free time "getting high on mountains." He ran six miles daily for over four years, regardless of weather or even the flu. He enjoyed skiing, whitewater canoeing, backpacking, road biking and was active in Cub Scouts with his son Alec. Will was a firm believer in, "If it can't kill you, it's not a sport;" while coincidentally, he was also known by those close to him as a man with nine lives.

Will's love of the outdoors never wavered, as it was here that he was most content and happy. He was involved with the Poudre Paddlers Canoe Club and Rocky Mountain Canoe Club where he spent hours on the water creating his own line through the river — even if it led to a few swims.

He was also active with the Poudre Sunrise Cyclists, and last year alone logged over 6,000 miles on his road bike. Will enjoyed the challenge of riding the mountain passes, and completed multiple "century rides" and other races.

In addition to exploring nature and challenging himself in outdoor sports, Will was a diehard Denver Broncos and Michigan Wolverines fan. He also enjoyed reading everything from classic literature to science fiction novels, the New Yorker and the New York Times. Will spent time pondering logic puzzles and riddles, and was an excellent chess player who taught his sons to play, and still remains undefeated.

Will and his wife, Deborah enjoyed traveling, and together they visited many places including Belize, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Alaska and Britain among many other locations. True to Will's exploratory spirit and love of new places, their travels were often based on cycling, backpacking and boating adventures. A favorite was canal boating for two weeks through Wales.

To Will, true freedom was the pursuit of passion and knowledge, which gave him the opportunity to challenge himself to succeed by no one's standard other than his own. He was a true "bushwacker" in life, a man unafraid to take risks, who both blazed his own trails in the wilderness and led his own path through life. He didn't care if he got lost, finished last or ran into the proverbial or actual bad weather — he always continued moving forward.

Will is survived by his wife, Deborah Artzer; two sons, Alec of Fort Collins and Seth (Darcy) of Portland, Oregon; two stepsons, Josh Sutherland (Sara) of Wellington and Will Sutherland (Lindsey) of Wellington; two sisters, Anna Gloria (Jesse) of Grass Valley, California and Jane Golden of Grass Valley, California; one nephew, Joey Burgess of Sonoma, California; and three grandchildren. He is also survived by the mother of his sons, Emily Golson of Fort Collins.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Janet Guyre Golden and Harry Golson; and brother, Rich Golden.

As a man who was forever fearless in nature and in life, he spent his life in pursuit of new hobbies, places, knowledge and friends. His only dread was a Bronco loss to San Francisco, or even worse a Michigan Wolverine loss to Ohio State. Go Blue.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, Oct. 7 at 2:00 p.m. at the Bohlender Funeral Chapel. Following the service, a reception celebrating Will's life will be held in Overlook Park at the Pavilion, located at 2930 Virginia Dale Dr., Fort Collins, Colorado 80521.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, memorial donations may be made in care of Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive, Fort Collins, Colorado 80524 to Ciclismo Youth Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to making cycling opportunities accessible to youth in Northern Colorado.