William Delbert Bagley

William Delbert (Bill) Bagley, local attorney and author, died Thursday, May 7, 2015, at Davis Hospice in Cheyenne after a lengthy illness. Bill was born March 28, 1940, in the Star Valley Hospital over the Post Office on Main Street in Afton, Wyoming, to Della Evalena Newswander Bagley and William Burton Bagley.
He was the grandson of Nora Heap Newswander, Godfrey A. Newswander, Josephine Burton Bagley and William Lester Bagley. His parents and grandparents predeceased him. He is survived by his wife Margaret Ann (Margi) Seward Bagley and their three sons William S. (Billy) Bagley, John M. Bagley and Christopher J. Bagley and Billy’s wife Deborah K. Conkling Bagley, all of Cheyenne. Also surviving him are his sisters Nora Jo Bagley Taggart, the widow of Larry L. Taggart, and Barbara Bagley Jenkins and her husband LaVor Jenkins, all of Afton, and their children, spouses and families, as well as his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law John B. Seward and his wife Judith A. Mahr Seward of St. Paul, Minnesota, M. C. Seward and his wife Shawn K. Briggs Seward of Blacksburg,Virginia, Marci A. Seward of Loveland, Colorado, and N. Jayne Seward of Los Angeles, California. One uncle, his father’s brother, Dean B. Bagley of Afton and numerous cousins, including Gloria Shumway Milmont of Cheyenne, also survive him.
As a child, Bill lived in Laramie while his father completed college and then in Afton with his mother while his father served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Following the war, he lived in Cheyenne, Riverton and Gillette before moving back to Afton with his parents in 1947. After beginning school in Gillette, he attended second grade and all subsequent elementary, junior high and high school grades in Afton where he graduated from Star Valley High School in 1958. He attended the University of Wyoming for both undergraduate and law school and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Juris Doctorate degrees there.
In 1980, he wrote his life story and was proud to note his early accomplishments as a newspaper delivery boy for the Salt Lake Tribune. From age eleven on, he and his dog Ring delivered that paper every day for four years in every kind of weather on a five-mile-long route. He stated “I wore out two bicycles and numerous sets of snow tires, but it was a most worthwhile experience and Ring was good support. During this period of time, I won several trips and prizes, including a trip to Los Angeles and Catalina Island, for selling newspapers.
After that my school years’ work experience included clerking in the grocery store and the hardware store, leasing and running a bowling alley, running juke boxes, buying wrecked cars and trading or selling parts, cutting and treating timber for fence posts and pole construction, selling farm supplies, wholesaling chemicals to weed and pest districts, being a park ranger in Yellowstone and working as a law clerk in Cheyenne.”
According to Bill, “I decided to become a lawyer while in grade school and became actively involved in politics as a hobby substitute ... during the 1958 campaign.” After graduation from law school in 1964, Bill passed the Wyoming Bar and became campaign manager for Teno Roncalio who was elected that fall to the U.S. Congress. “I served as his Administrative Assistant, Legislative Assistant, Office Manager and Campaign Manager in the 89th Congress.”
It was during this time that he met his future wife who worked as a research assistant and speech writer for John V. Tunney, a congressman from California. They were married September 6, 1965, in Arlington, Virginia. A formal, religious ceremony followed on October 30th at St. John’s Church in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. Teno Roncalio was Bill’s best man at that ceremony.
When Roncalio lost his bid to become a U.S. Senator to then Governor Cliff Hansen, Bill, Margi and their infant son Billy were already in Cheyenne for the campaign. Bill decided to stay and begin the practice of law, which he did on January 1, 1967. Walter Phelan, a partner in the firm Guy, Phelan, White, and Mulvaney, was one of Bill’s early mentors. John Rooney and Jim Horiskey, Bill’s law partners prior to Rooney’s appointment to the Wyoming Supreme Court and Horiskey’s retirement, were also important influences.
From 1967-1982, he held the part-time position of Assistant Laramie County and Prosecuting Attorney under John Pattno and then Tom Carroll. Later when the civil and prosecuting duties of that office were divided, Bill became the County Attorney, 1982-1988, and Tom Carroll became the District Attorney.
Bill was a member of the Laramie County, Wyoming and American Bar Associations and the Commercial Law League of America. In 1971, Bill was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He was also a member of the National Panel of Arbitrators and the American Arbitration Association.
With Phil Whynott, he co-authored Wyoming Corporate Law and Practice (1990, Supplement 1991) and The Limited Liability Company: A Better Alternative. He edited the Limited Liability Company Reporter for twenty years and authored Wyoming Corporate Law and Practice, (2nd ed.). He was chairman of the Wyoming Bar Association Business Law Section, 1990-1991, a member of the Wyoming LLC Statutory Review Committee, 1992-1994, a member of the Committee on Partnerships and Unincorporated Organizations, and of the Subcommittee on Limited Liability Companies of the American Bar Association on Business Law, He was also a frequent speaker at Advanced Limited Liability Company, Estate Planning and Business Organization seminars.
From the beginning, Bill was actively involved in the Cheyenne community. By 1968, he was Laramie County chairman of the Easter Seals campaign.
In 1971, Bill was elected to the Board of Trustees of Laramie County Community College and served until 1981. At the time of his election, he was also chairman of the board of Legal Services for Laramie County, treasurer of the board of Cheyenne Local Development Corporation, and secretary of the board of Wyoming Industries for the Handicapped. He was also serving on the board of the Cheyenne Family YMCA and Laramie County United Fund.
In 1977, Bill was appointed to the Wyoming Land Use Commission by Governor Ed Hershler and served until 1983. He was also a founding board member of the Equality State Banks in Cheyenne and Casper.
In 1978, Bill was the Democratic Candidate for the United States House of Representatives. He lost that election.
From 1981-1991, he was a member of the Cheyenne Airport Board.
In 1983, Bill was elected president of the Cheyenne Downtown Association.
Other boards include the U.S. Marshals Museum in Laramie, Wyoming and Winhealth Partners.
He was a member of the Cheyenne Rotary Club for over forty years. He was a life member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, the business and professional fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi, the University of Wyoming Alumni Association and the Wyoming Historical Society. He also belonged to the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and Cheyenne Leads.
According to a Rotary profile in 2012, “Other than his family, Bill Bagley’s proudest accomplishment is ... he is Co-Author of the first national text on the Limited Liability Company ... and he has been the Editor of the Limited Liability Company Reporter for the past 18 years.”
A celebration of Bill’s life will be held Friday, May 15th, at 1:30 pm at the LDS Stake Center, 309 Western Hills Boulevard.
Honorary pallbearers are: Francis Ferguson, Carl Halladay, Mike Ohu, Paul Rosetta, Paul Rothman, Jack Sherman, Lowell Shickell, and John Simons.
In lieu of flowers, the Bagley family requests that any memorials be made to the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens or to Davis Hospice.