PERTSON, W.J. (William – Bill)
The Gallery
The Nameplates
Troop Number and Year: TR. C 1966/67
The Bricks
The Stories
William (Bill) Pertson was born in Winnipeg Beach, MB (pop. 1145 in 2016) on 17 June 1939. Sitting on the shore of Lake Winnipeg, with 15 km to Gimli, 33 km to Teulon and a 56 km drive to the city of Winnipeg, you were either a beach tourist or into farming/ranching. Aside from the town being a historically popular summer beach holiday destination, the surrounding area had a history of hard working Icelandic settlers. Bill had the advantage of coming from a police background. His uncle Paul Pertson was a member in the Royal North West Mounted Police and Bill’s brother, Paul, also served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and consequently, Bill’s son, Jason, now serves in the RCMP.
In 1961 the lure of adventure and the ‘big’ city along with that tradition of service in his family history lead to his applying to be a C/M fingerprint technician in Ottawa. For several years, part of his fingerprint identification job was associating crime scene fingerprints to either victims or perpetrators. The intrigue of this forensic type environment persuaded Bill to apply to become a regular member of the RCMP.
In June of 1966 he became one of 32 men to form up as troop, “C 66/67” at Depot Division in Regina SK. For the 6 months before that, Bill had worked hard in the gym to stretch his 5’ 7 ¼” to measure out to the minimum 5’8” he needed for the intake medical to get into the Force.
Living and training with a group of mostly younger recruits, was just the beginning of a career that modeled the whole aspect of “service”. What started off as a 9 month basic training schedule was quickly reduced to 6 months when equestrian training, for all, was eliminated.
Upon graduating, his first posting was to Cranbrook, BC. There he encountered his first sudden death investigation and multiple death vehicular occurrence. As gruesome as they might have been to the new police officer, they sparked his curiosity and his building desire to be involved in the investigative side of police work. On the personal side, he met Valerie Manson and a relationship started.
After his short stay in Cranbrook he was transferred to Midway, BC,. and then in 1968 he was transferred to Fruitvale, BC.. It was also in 1968 that he married Valerie Manson.
They had a daughter, Lisa, in 1969 but unfortunately, Valerie ended up suffering an undiagnosed condition of post-partum depression. In 1970, the anxiety and depression caused Val to take her own life, thus leaving Bill with the responsibilities of both his very young daughter and the job of being a maturing police officer.
On compassionate grounds, Bill was transferred to Lundar, MB which allowed him access to his sister, who still lived in Winnipeg Beach, 95 km away. Bill’s sister eased much of the burden of him trying to keep a job and raise his daughter. Lundar could be considered a rough and tumble sort of town and was challenging to police. The best part of the posting was that Bill met and fell in love with a young school teacher, Sharron Anne Willis.
Bill and Sharron were married and Bill applied for an eight-week Identification Section training course in Ottawa. His aptitude to this field of forensics was obvious and Bill ended up staying in Ottawa for a couple of years to get more in-depth training and experience in Ident work. Consequently, Bill’s son Jason was born in Ottawa in December 1971.
Being a graduate Ident specialist, in 1973 he was transferred to a 2 person Identification Section in Swift Current, SK.
After two years covering a huge Section territory which saw him “on the road” for the majority of his Ident work, Bill was transferred to Prince Rupert, BC in 1975 and was promoted to Corporal. Prince Rupert was home until 1978 and was the place his mettle was cast as he investigated the indigenous murders committed along the now famous “Highway of Tears”. These were the frustrating years prior to the inclusion of DNA forensics, thus making aging evidence difficult to find, follow and prosecute.
From 1978 to 1986, Bill was promoted to Sergeant and was the NCO i/c of the Identification Section in Vernon, BC. These eight years finally allowed him to have a more “normal” life outside the realm of policing. His children were growing and so was his knowledge and experience with some of the newer forensic applications. Computers were soon to make his life more complex and also more interesting.
1986 saw Bill return to Saskatchewan but this time as the NCO i/c Yorkton, SK, Identification Section. This five year posting wasn’t as hectic as his experience had been in Swift Current but his expertise was continually called on to help solve the more complicated investigations.
From 1991-1999 he served as the NCO i/c Dauphin, MB, Identification Section. Although the detachment area was large, the population centres were fewer. Bill was getting near 60 as he realized he had contributed his fair share to the policing standards of the country. It was time! Bill retired from the RCMP on 6 June 1999. He had 37.5 years of combined service as a C/M and as an R/M.
In his later life, Bill developed Parkinson’s disease and Sharron helped him deal with that. However, Sharron passed on in 2008.
Bill left us on 17 February 2024, in Grandview, MB. Known as a humble man, a gracious man, an honest man and steadfast friend, Canada, and the police officers who had the honor of sharing part of his life, lost a good man!
A more in-depth accounting of Bill’s life and service in the RCMP is captured in the book “Faces of The Force”.
Divisions Served: E, D, O, F
Regimental Number: 24788
Training Division: Depot, O Division
Troop Number and Year: TR. C 1966/67
Home Town: Winnipeg Beach, MB
Engagement Date: Jun 01, 1966