William James Maron

William James “Bill” Maron passed away peacefully at his home in Decatur, Georgia, on March 22, 2022. He was 67 years old.

Bill was born Sept. 13, 1954, in Teaneck, New Jersey, to Gerry and Marge Maron. The family moved to Montezuma, Georgia, in 1970. In 1976, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Georgia, and he later earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Georgia State University in 1988.

At the University of Georgia he met the love of his life, Eileen Killeen. They dated for four years and were married Sept. 1, 1980. Their daughter Meagan Killeen Maron was born in 1982 and Patricia Collis Maron was born in 1986.

In 1979, Bill took a job as a bank examiner for the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, travelling the state to make sure that banks complied with financial regulations. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) hired him in 1981 to be a project manager, and for 25 years he took on a variety of challenging projects that relocated him temporarily to Toronto, London, Dublin, New York, and other cities. He eventually rose to Senior Project Director of Global Operations for CIBC and was one of the team leaders that helped the bank get safely through the Y2K scare. He took early retirement in 2006.

After retirement, Bill started his own consulting business, WJM Advisory, and used his experience to assist several banks to grow their business.

Bill devoted a great deal of volunteer time to helping Catholic organizations. He was the head of the St. Thomas More Church Finance Committee for many years and served on the parish council. He served on the Board of Education for the Archdiocese of Atlanta and helped develop a strategy to expand the number of schools. He was a financial consultant for Cristo Rey, the Jesuit high school in downtown Atlanta.

Bill’s love of sports added richness to his life. He was a long-time season ticket holder for the Atlanta Braves, rooting for them before it was cool through many early losing seasons, and was at Game 6 of the 1995 World Series when the Braves won the Series. He attended many games and watched fortunes rise and fall for the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta United and the University of Georgia. September always found him walking the course with friends at East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.

In early 1996, with Olympic fever building in Atlanta, Bill and his friend Keith Steinberg created the Manathon, a fun version of the decathlon for middle-aged “weekend warriors.” Over a three-day weekend, 12 invitees competed in events that included a 5K run, football, basketball, pool, poker, bowling, tennis, darts, horseshoes and more. Alcohol may also have been involved. Over 10 years, the field expanded up to 24, and the Manathon finally came to an end in 2005 with only one trip to the emergency room and a few minor injuries.

Bill was well known as a master of the Big Green Egg, and a mean hand at foosball. He played poker for about 25 years with a group of friends and enjoyed inventing new games; he was particularly proud of creating and naming a game called “Low Diamond Phillips.” His team won the St. Thomas More Golf Classic in 2007.

In 2010, Bill was diagnosed with an aggressive form of kidney cancer and was told he only had a 20 percent chance of surviving five years. He made it almost 12, and he was aware of the extra life with family and friends and sports events that he had been granted. He was grateful for years of treatment from many professionals in the Emory Healthcare system.

Survivors include his wife Eileen, daughters Meagan and Patty, son-in-law Josh Carley, brother Ed Maron, and his many nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law, and brothers-in-law, along with his beloved imaginary dog, Rigley.

A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday March 26, 2022, at St. Thomas More Church, 636 W. Ponce de Leon, Decatur, Georgia, followed by a reception at the church’s Mulhern Hall, where people will be invited to share memories and stories. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Amplify My Community (PO Box 2506 Decatur, GA 30031 or their PayPal account.)