A Memorial Honoring Bill Lease

grad student. Thanks Bill. I am grateful to meet you while as the first student working in a new lab and first time entering Div of Biology. With your help, my new project was efficiently started from an empty new bench. Your stockroom is an amazing kingdom that we always can make our hope and find things suitable to our need right away. I still have a 3D memory of lots of corners of the stockroom. I recalled my last meet to you and your family in a restaurant on lake Ave. Your story of your young life and whole career always gives me light and confidence. You will be in our memory and you deserves honor And legacy.

Thanks Bill for the kindness you showed me while I represented Fisher Scientific on campus!

A great loss to all of us who knew Bill. Although, I moved on from Caltech over 25 years ago, we still kept in touch. I hope that this recognition materializes so that we can all celebrate his life and contribution to all of us.

Bill was a wonderful person, kind and warm and so incredibly capable. Knowing Bill was a bright spot for me during my PhD work at Caltech. He should be honored, he was part of the fabric of the place, and he is part of its history.

I was a postdoc from 1983-1992 in the Biology Division and have a deep appreciation for all Bill Lease did to "make everything work" and for the friendship he always offered. We owe him a lot and I am happy to contribute.

Bill is an example of a humble, efficient, joyful friend who made the Patterson’s lab feel welcome ashe helped in so many ways to get us going back to our research projects soon after arriving at Caltech. Nothing seemed unsurmountable for Bill, as he confidently would say, let me see what I can do.. He was an integral part of the Patterson family and will be missed.

I was a grad student in David Anderson's lab and worked in an office right next to Bill's. I remember all the people who came to him for help and how late into the night he used to work. His dedication and love for the people at Caltech made Bill very special and I will always remember him fondly. He made grad school a lot more fun. He deserves all the recognition that he can get.

Please honor this mans contributions

What can I say? Bill is indelibly imprinted on my memories from my time as PhD in CNS, all through my interactions at the Prufrock parties, the beer hours, the softball games. He set the tone of collegial Caltech biology. I miss him!

A lasting legacy for Bill is such a great idea. So many fond memories, including “bartering” for small lab equipment that only he knew where to find!

Bill always had a smile for everyone. His kindness, humor, and helpfulness for all in the Division of Biology should not be forgotten.

Bill was a big part of my late husband, Paul H. Patterson's, success as a research scientist and professor at Caltech.

Bill was an awesome human being, a dedicated problem solver and one of the hardest working individuals I have ever met. He helped me professionally and personally in many many ways.

Bill is fondly remembered as part of the secret sauce that makes Caltech such a special place.

Bill Lease was a great guy. He made life better for the whole Division of Biology community.

Bill was a fantastic human being. To me, he was the rock of BBB, always there and making the impossible possible. Oh, and that impish sense of humor! He will be missed. Grad student 1991-97.

I was a grad student in David Anderson's lab from 1986-91 (Ph.D. '92). I remember Bill Lease very fondly. He exemplified the very best of Caltech staff and helped generations of scientists to be able to do their jobs with aplumb. Everyone loved Bill because Bill loved to help everyone. May his memory be for a blessing.

Bill was kind, hardworking, full of information and never hesitate for a minute to help anyone. He truly deserve the honor. Postdoc, 1984-1989.

Bill was a truly remarkable person who made every graduate student he encountered feel supported. He was a core element of the community whose spirit infused life in the Division, and whose effort was always above and beyond. He deserves recognition! Grad Student 92-97.

I'm so sad to hear about Bill's passing. Bill was the mortar and a rock of the Biology Division. He was a true Caltech character... he was well loved and appreciated by all, for he not only got the labs organized and built, but for his fun loving spirit. When I first came to Caltech in 1985, Bill was the spirit of of the division, and it was an amazing time then. Bill could get anything you needed, and was always able to get the connections to get a piece of special equipment or a whole lab going. Besides doing all the stockroom and lab organizations, he was the spirit of the then great Friday Biology Beer Hour, softball games and other events. Who can forget his chuckling laugh? He was a great storyteller as well, and could tell so many things about the history of the Division. He also knew where all the skeletons of the division were, but never went too far in the stories when they might be sensitive, just tantalizing enough to make you wonder. LOL His love to party was legendary, and he had lots of stories about those too, from years earlier. I had asked Manny a couple of months ago for news about Bill, and he said that he was doing pretty well. In my lameness, I didn't e-mail Bill like I was planning, and of course now regret it. Please, let's get something for Bill... he deserves it.