ST. CLAIR, Bill

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ July 14, 1993 Long-time resident "Bill" St. Clair dies at age 90. Roy Coxwell remembers when he first met "Bill" St. Clair. Coxwell, one of the pioneers of the Town of Wickenburg as we know it today, said when he was 18 he was with a couple girls under the Hassayampa Bridge. He said St. Clair rode his horse along the river and spotted the three and told them he was going to tell their parents. "And he did," Coxwell remembered. Although St. Clair was almost 20 years older than Coxwell, the two teamed up on several business ventures over the past 50 years. However, the partnerships ended last week when William "Bill" W. St. Clair died at a Phoenix hospital. He was 90. "He always wanted to be a rancher," noted his son, Ed, who attended Wickenburg schools through the eighth grade and now resides in Eugene, Oregon. St. Clair, who first arrived in Wickenburg in 1928 to stay at the Bar FX Ranch (later known as the Remuda Ranch) with hopes of recovering from tuberculosis, owned several ranches -- including a partnership in the JV Bar Ranch on Constellation Road in Wickenburg. Until his death, he was still a partner, along with Coxwell, in the Western Garden Apartments on Yavapai Street. He owned other ranches and various other businesses in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon. One of the more famous ranches included the Flying W Ranch (better known as the Zane Grey Ranch) in Young, Arizona. St. Clair became a full-time resident of Wickenburg in the 1950s. "Bill enjoyed being in business," noted Coxwell, who is still an active member of the Wickenburg community. "The guys used to pick on Bill." St. Clair's son, Ed, remembers the teasing, too. "He was known as a tightwad," he said, "but he was quite generous." In fact, St. Clair is one of the charter members of the Desert Caballeros Ride. He helped organize the first ride, which drew between 40 and 50 riders in 1946. This year, in its 47th year, drew about 250 riders. "He was tough, and I understood him," Coxwell said, "and I was tough, and he understood me. He was a doer. He came to Wickenburg and found the cure for his tuberculosis here." Indeed, the tuberculosis that plagued the 26-year-old newcomer to Wickenburg did not develop, and in fact had disappeared from his body, according to his stepdaughter Doreen (Dumont) Weigard of Hesperia, Calif. St. Clair was born Nov. 23, 1902 in Nashua, Iowa. He died on July 6, 1993. Private services were held. Along with being a charter member of the Desert Caballeros, St. Clair also was a 32nd-degree Mason and had been involved in the Masonic Lodge for 65 years. He also was a member of the Shrine Club and past president of the Wickenburg Rotary Club. Prior to his business involvements in the Wickenburg area, St. Clair was a partner in the St. Clair Stores, Inc., and managed 22 men's clothing stores -- mostly in the midwest. He is survived by his wife, Marion, of Wickenburg; sons, Edwin "Ed" F. St. Clair of Eugene, Oregon, William "Bill" F. St. Clair of Tulare, S.D., and John Blain St. Clair of Hitchcock, S.D.; stepdaughter Doreen Weigard of Hesperia, Claif.; sister Dorothy Ross of Ottawa, Canada; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Memorial contributions may be given to the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, P. O. Box 1446, Wickenburg, AZ 85358. All arrangements were handled by Wickenburg Funeral Home.