Douthett IV

"Digital Bill" died suddenly Wednesday at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at the age of 47.

Bill was the son of William Douthett III of Butler and the late Helen Faust Douthett.

At the time of his death, he was a self-employed computer consultant and self-professed "Mac Geek."

Bill was well known in the Macintosh community and a great outpouring of Internet posting has followed his death. In one of these he is described as "one of the good guys, a gentle soul with a warm laugh, who would go out of his way to lend anyone some help if they needed it. He helped us many, many times with all sorts of problems, from html to the mysteries of Mac OS X, and he made us laugh. He was a true geek in many ways ... inquisitive, knowledgeable, always wanting to learn new things. He made our world a better place to laugh in. He will be sadly missed."

Bill and a partner pioneered and hosted a "podcasting" show on the Internet — www.wizardsoftechnology.com — which had over 15,000 subscribers worldwide.

In addition to his passion for computers and all things digital, Bill was passionate about music. He had handled sound and lighting engineering for a number of bands in the Pittsburgh and Fort Lauderdale areas. He had a prodigious collection of music of all kinds.

Bill grew up in Butler and graduated from Butler High School and Butler County Community College with a degree in computer science. He also had a degree from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in television production, where he was named the Most Outstanding member of his class.

Bill was active in the Lorraine Chapter. Order of DeMolay, held the Chevalier Degree and was noted for his rendition of "the Flower Talk" to initiates. He was also active in Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church before moving to Florida.

Surviving are his father of Butler; a brother and sister-in-law, the Revs. David and Molly Douthett of West Virginia; a niece, Meredith; and a nephew, Jacob. Also surviving are his uncle and aunt, Bill and Carol Faust; an aunt, Jeanne Wilson; and four cousins.

<B>DOUTHETT</B> — A memorial service for William G. "Digital Bill" Douthett IV, who died Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006, will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church, 201 E. Jefferson St. The family will receive friends at the church following the service.A memorial service also will be held Saturday in Fort Lauderdale.Memorial donations may be made to ongoing hurricane relief by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, c/o Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church.Arrangements are being handled by the <B>Thompson-Miller Funeral Home</B>; and information is available at www.thompson-miller.com.