Will passed away on January 5, 2023, while challenging himself to swim laps without coming up for air.
William Thomas Visty, called Bill on the soccer pitch, arrived 43 minutes late to meet his twin sister, Ella Jo.
Will wasn't born first but he was born with that kind of confidence -- perhaps because of his talents. He could do math in his head, he scaled trees, he was fast on the soccer field. And he LOVED water. He swam in pools, in the lake in the ocean. He dove off the dock while catching a football in the air. He rode the wakeboard, he skied.
Will chose outdoors to screens, experiences over things. He was a natural with people because he was fearless. He led Ella Jo, Reese, Owen and a trail of neighbor kids on marches through high cattails and ditch weeds, in whiffle ball games at dusk, on fishing expeditions at their lake, to go catch frogs, to explore the woods. He ran into high ocean waves and climbed rocks. He staged outdoor sleepovers on the beach, picnic tables and trampolines.
Younger kids trailed after Will in awe because he played with them, kicked the ball their way, got them lures, showed them how to cast and how to unhook the fish from their rods. He made up games. He spent his evenings staring at the sunset telling his mom it was a good one. He lived for nights lit by campfires and stars.
Will could not be embarrassed. Every morning at school drop off his mother yelled I LOVE YOU WILL VISTY from the car window in front of of his classmates at St. Wenceslaus and then all the high school boys Creighton Prep. Will yelled I LOVE YOU MORE MOM right back. Will showed up at soccer in flip flops and he showed up at baseball games without shoes at all. He once played a baseball game in swim trunks. People laughed at him. He laughed with them. His best friends were his siblings, his cousin, Beau, and his friends since kindergarten – Sam and Killian, referred to as the Three Amigos. His list was always growing.
Will always had an understanding for what mattered - It wasn't rules. It was joy. It was memories. It was experiences. It was family and friends. He was joyfully, shamelessly charming and funny and lived each day. He said someday he would have a house in the mountains and a house on the sea, where he could ski and fish and live all the adventures.
Will never got in trouble until he did – until he pushed himself too hard to see how far he could go. Will passed away over Christmas break (2022) on a family vacation to Isla Mujeres, Mexico to snorkel and scuba dive on the reef. He was swimming laps in a shallow pool just to see how many he could do without surfacing for air. He was 15 years old. He'd finished one semester at his new high school, Creighton Prep, where he planned to try out for the soccer team. He loved his life.