Bill Dexter ? a former Winfield mayor and master of money matters ? died Sunday after departing by four wheeler into an area of coarse terrain on his ranch in rural Chautauqua County. He was 65.
Dexter’s body was recovered in the early evening following an exhaustive search that lasted several hours, according to his wife, Jane Dexter. It appeared Bill Dexter fell backward off a ten-foot embankment into a creek below.
“He said he’d be right back,” Jane Dexter said Monday night. “He really liked to spend time out there.”
An autopsy conducted Monday was expected to help determine whether Dexter was simply the victim of an accident or suffered a heart attack or other ailment prior to backing off the embankment. Funeral services are set for 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the First United Methodist Church in Winfield.
SERVING THE CITY
City commissioner Phil Jarvis remembers Bill Dexter as the vice president of finance at Gott. In the mid ’70s, Dexter hired Jarvis to serve as the company’s director of data processing.
“He was one of the best bosses I ever had,” Jarvis said. “He took the time for his employees and would drop what he was doing to try to help with anything he could.”
City officials who knew him said Dexter’s knack for understanding finances and thorough research made him an effective city commissioner from 1983 to 1987. He served two one-year terms as mayor from 1984 to 1985 and again from 1986 to 1987.
“I know if Bill said ‘I think we should do such and such,'” Jarvis said. “I’d trust him. He always knew what he was talking about. Very financially savvy.”
Willie Tuttle, a long-time local insurance agent, said he knew Bill Dexter for close to 25 years as a neighbor and client. The two also served on a number of church boards together.
Tuttle had just seen Dexter a couple of weeks ago.
“He was just a great guy, super nice,” Tuttle said. “I’ll certainly miss him. Winfield will miss him.”
SUNDAY SEARCH
Jane Dexter said she last saw her husband alive around 9 a.m. as he got onto his all-terrain vehicle and rode away with his dog, Lexy, close by. The Dexters lived most of the time in Winfield but enjoyed the ranch northeast of Sedan, where Bill had grown up.
On Sunday he’d been doing some burning and other tasks around he ranch.
An hour or so after Bill Dexter left the house, Lexy ? a Weimaraner ? returned home alone. Jane Dexter became increasingly concerned and by late morning enlisted neighbors to look for her husband.
“I knew that where he was there was some rough terrain,” she said. “(The neighbors) hunted and hunted for him.”
Jane Dexter said she waited until the afternoon before calling the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s department because she was convinced Bill would turn up.
“I thought, ‘they’re going to find him,'” she said. “And everything’s going to be all right.”
By 3 p.m., law enforcement officers and a team of 40 volunteers descended on the ranch aboard three- and four-wheeled ATVs. At 5:30 p.m., a helicopter joined the search and, after a second-pass at the property, directed searchers to move west to the area where Bill Dexter’s body was found.
The location was about a half mile from the ranch house.
