William Randall Preston

William "Bill" Preston, 82, of Riverton, UT passed away peacefully at his home on Sunday May 31, 2026. Bill was born to John & Norma Preston on January 1, 1944. He was the third of five children (Johnny, Becky, Bill, Kirk and Steven). Bill was born in Beaumont, Texas but spent most of his years growing up in Victoria, Texas.
Bill had a wonderful childhood which included running through the woods, playing in the rivers (and almost drowning), catching snakes and trying (and sometimes succeeding) to scalp his brothers.
In college Bill played football in Texas then moved to Utah with hopes of playing for the University of Utah. During that time he met Pauline and 2 year old Stephanie. Bill and Pauline married on October 27, 1967. Soon after Bill adopted Stephanie and then came the three terrors; Randy in the spring of 1968, John in 1971, and finally Michael in 1976. On April 3, 2014 Bill and Pauline were sealed in the temple.
Bill found his calling in iron work as a welder and worked on many projects across Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and California including; The ZCMI building, The Salt Palace, LDS Conference Center, Kennacott, Salt Lake City Temple, Caesars Palace, Circus Circus, Excalibur, The Denver International Airport and many more. Bill was an amazing welder and became the most certified welder in the Western United States. He even helped apprentice welders at Salt Lake Community College. Bill had a very inquisitive and adventurous nature about him.
He loved going camping all over but some of his favorite places to go were Yellowstone, Moab, Soapstone, Bear Lake and his daughter Stephanie's property. You wouldn't catch him out camping if he couldn't get on his four-wheeler and explore. He would just ride around and explore or he would go check out nearby mines and caves and drag the boys (or anyone he could) along with him. Bill and Pauline loved to get out and explore the world.
They absolutely loved to travel around the world in style, onboard a cruise ship. They have taken trips that only make other people's bucket lists such as the Panama Canal, Fiji, and many locations in the Eastern and Western Caribbean. The one trip that was on Bill's travel bucket list was to go to Italy and visit the Colosseum and in 2023 his dream came true and he and Pauline got to take that trip (on a cruise ship of course) with Stephanie and her family. Bill loved spending time with Pauline and their grandchildren, sometimes taking them on adventures with them.
He also loved watching old Western and War movies. He also loved watching football whether it was the NFL (Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers or the Kansas City Chiefs) or College Football (GO UTES!).
Bill is survived by his wife Pauline, daughter Stephanie (Jeff), sons Randy (Bob), John, and Mike (Audra), and 9 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.
Viewing will be held at the Copperview 2nd Ward 12242 S. 2700 W. Riverton, UT 84065 on Wednesday June 3, 2026 from 6-8pm & Thursday June 4, 2026 from 10-10:45am. Funeral to be held at the Copperview 2nd Ward 12242 S. 2700 W. Riverton, UT 84065 on Thursday June 4, 2026 at 11am. Bill will be laid to rest at Valley View Memorial Park 4335 W. 4100 S. West Valley City, UT 84120 immediately after the services.
Flowers can be sent to McDougal Funeral Home 4330 South Redwood Road, Taylorsville, UT 84123 until Wednesday June 3rd at 3pm. Link for the livestream of the services: https://youtube.com/live/WVCMp8H1dNs?feature=share