William "Bill" Catlow

William “Bill” Catlow passed away on Lopez Island on March 11, 2026. He was 77 years old. Born in Bellingham, WA, on September 3, 1948, to William V. Catlow and Cleora Vaughn Catlow, Bill graduated from Bellingham High School in 1966 and began living his life much like the Jimmy Buffett songs he admired so much.

He read dozens of books about heroes and crooks and learned much from both their styles. As the son of a sailor, he worked for Dunlop Towing, where he went out on the sea for adventure. As a dreamer of dreams and a traveling man, he chalked up many miles - from Morocco to Costa Rica, all over Baja, and up to the Arctic Circle - but it was in the San Juan Islands that he called home.

The log home he and his friends built stands as a testament to his style. He shrimped, ate oysters, and drank his share of beer, and he was just fine. He’d known his share of women, but it was Carole Coffelt, whom he married in 2023, who was by his side as he tried to rally but ultimately sprang too many leaks.

Some called him “Bill,” “Unk,” or “Tugboat Bill.” Regardless of the title, he lived his life on his terms. He never had a pencil-thin mustache, “Margaritaville” was wherever he was, and it was always 5 o’clock somewhere (“Cuama-time”). So lift your tin-cup chalice to a perpetual pirate and toast a life well lived.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Rena Catlow Browne. Survivors include his wife, Carole Coffelt; his brother-in-law, Ron Browne; his niece, Joanne Browne, and her two sons, Tyler Browne and Nathan Hayes; and his nephew, Scott Browne, and his two children, Logan and Blakely Browne.

Private services will be held later this summer.