Article: Retired Oakland rancher knew how to tell a good tale

Ten years after retiring from the cattle business, Bill McDonald still wore his cowboy boots every day.

"He had a quiet and wonderful personality," his wife, Nancy, said. "He was never loud or boisterous, but he loved to tell jokes."

William "Bill" McDonald of Oakland, the founder and owner of Rocking Martini Cattle Co., died at home Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, of cardiac arrest. He was 91.

Mr. McDonald owned ranches in San Francisco, Oregon and Hawaii. His wife, a Wilmerding native, met Mr. McDonald in 1987 in Denver. She stayed in the Brown Palace Hotel during a business trip and a visit with friends and arrived late to the hotel.

While looking for the reception desk, she saw a sign for a ...

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