Grover William Mundell was born April 28, 1930 to Grover Cleveland and Alma Herbert Mundell in the house that he lived in his entire adult life which then had a post office address of Blaine, Colorado.  He died July 21, 2021 at the Walsh Healthcare Center. He was 91.

As a child his passion was to be a cowboy like his father, so he practiced roping weeds, building fence, and wrangling the herd of Hereford cattle owned by his folks.  In his spare time, he practiced spinning a spot cord rope and executing all the tricks his father taught him.  By choice, Grover and Alma used his middle name of William and called him Bill, which is the name that most people knew him by.  His early schooling was at Walsh until third grade.  His father became ill and died when Bill was 13 years old.  At this time Alma took a job in Springfield and moved Bill and his younger brother John there.  Alma paid the taxes on the ranch and saved it in hopes that her sons would eventually move there.

While at Springfield, Bill became interested and participated in every sport he could.  In the winter of 1947, he and his teammates won a state basketball championship for Springfield.  He was very fond and proud of all his fellow classmates from the class of 1948.  After high school years he attended Colorado A & M (CSU) and eventually ended up on the rodeo team where he competed in bareback riding, bull riding, and calf roping.  He would make his horse, Raisin, jump into the back of his stockracked pickup, throw his rigging and rope in the front, and travel hundreds of miles to college rodeos.  Ironically, he rode the very first bareback horse at the Denver Coliseum when it was built in 1952.  It was at college where he met his wife to be.  Joyce Zeeck was the college rodeo queen and Bill vowed that he would marry her one day.  That day came on July 21, 1953.

Bill enlisted in the Air Force in 1952 and served 4 years.  He was stationed at Parks Air Force base in Pleasanton, California.  His first son, Joe, was born in 1954.   Bill worked in the Veterinary Corps while in the service and would have liked it better if he could have worked on more farm animals and less dogs and cats.   While stationed in California, he performed at USO shows.  He entertained by singing western songs and performing his rope spinning tricks.   After his discharge, he returned to CSU to finish his degree and become certified to be a teacher.  He then returned to the ranch that had not been lived in for many years.   His second son, Don, was born in 1957. He started with a small herd of Hereford cattle, and slowly built the number up to ranch capacity.  He also accepted a position of teaching science at Walsh High School.  His first 11-man football team had 12 players and his football field would barely fit into the current baseball diamond in Walsh.  He taught for three years and ended his teaching career after one year in the "new" high school, which was built in 1960.  He then went to the Missouri Auction School and became a certified auctioneer.  In the next 40 years he became a regular auctioneer in sale barns in La Junta, Lamar, and Clayton, New Mexico.  He also filled in occasionally at barns in Syracuse, Burlington, Stratton, and Texhoma.  He also partnered with Warren Robinson and auctioned many farm sales.  He was probably best remembered for his charity work for the Baca County Fair fat stock sale, the FFA slave sale, and the Methodist Ladies fundraisers.  Bill was a jokester, and kept people laughing during these sales, but he had to be careful to not let his humor be too inappropriate at the Methodist Ladies functions.  Sale barn humor is certainly not for the masses.

Bill loved sports and was the announcer for the Walsh football games for many years.  An all-conference linebacker at Western State who had played high school football at Fowler told Bill's son, Don, that there were two things he remembered about playing at Walsh.  He liked the field, and he liked the announcer.  He gave an example of when Bill said over the loudspeaker, "the tailback has broken free and is running downfield like a loose horse."  He served many years on the Baca County Fair Board.  He also served a term on the Federal Land Bank board and strived to assist struggling farmers and ranchers instead of foreclosing on them.  Bill was in his element when interacting with people and usually had time for a good visit.

An old college buddy encouraged Bill to invest in Brangus cattle in the early 70s.  He operated a registered herd for many years until his health made it difficult to tag the babies.  He held onto his Brangus cows and operated a commercial herd until the Badger Hole fire decimated it in the spring of 2018..  He began having problems with his back later in life and it became necessary to receive special care at the Walsh Healthcare Center where he lived for six years until his death.  He is survived by his wife, Joyce, who currently resides at Maplewood Homes in Walsh; son Joe and wife Darla of Lamar; son Don and wife Sue of Springfield; grandson Blake of Nashville, Tennessee; granddaughter Mandi of La Veta; granddaughter Justina of Springfield; granddaughter Kelly of Canyon, Texas; and one great grandson Kaysen of La Veta.

Bill loved his family.  He also loved prairie grass, cattle, a good ranch horse, the people of Baca County and Southeastern Colorado, and the cowboy way of life.  He will be missed by those who knew him.