Bill Taitano

I was born William Jay Olive, in 1948, on the island of Guam. My mother, sister and I lived there until 1953 when my mother met Lee Wormington from Oklahoma who was working on Guam rebuilding the island after WWII. We left the island life behind and started a new adventure in the USA. I faced many cultural changes. I saw snow for the first time and the food was different. The sweet treats I knew in Guam, toothpaste and sugar cane, couldn’t compare to the candy and sweets in Oklahoma. I experienced prejudice and bullying early in life which made me want to be stronger and “tough”.

I grew up with 2 sisters. Judy was 3 years older than I and was my protector. We had a special bond because we grew up together on this big island called America. My younger sister, Carolyn, was born in 1955. Carolyn meant to world to me as a kid and we are very close to this day. Growing up in the 50’s was pretty cool with old time rock and roll, awesome big fender cars. The 60’s brought change: faster cars, rock & roll was changing into a new kind of rock with artists like the Beatles and Janice Joplin and Vietnam. My athletic life started with high school wrestling. They called me the worm because I could get out of wrestling moves and my last name was Wormington. I went on to pursue other martial arts like Karate, Judo and Jujitsu.

In 1967 I was signing up for the Marine Corp because that’s what we did back then. The war in Vietnam was recruiting all the young kids after HS graduation. I flunked the physical because I injured my right shoulder wrestling in 1966 and had shoulder surgery. The acting officer questioned my birth certificate and last name. I was not William Jay Wormington but William Jay Olive according to the birth certificate. This explained many things to me growing up and why I was treated different by my step-father. I now believe he suffered from PTSD as a War Veteran stationed in France and Germany.

Growing up in Oklahoma City, I worked for my step-father in the concrete construction business. I learned how to build and use tools. It was hard work but my step-father’s anger issues made me quit as soon as I turned 16. I landed a job with Oklahoma Natural Gas in 1968. Joe Fleck and Raymond Argo were my mentors and father figures growing up. Joe got me a job with ONG. Hard work every day as a human back hole awaited me every morning. It was time to do something different. I went to college with an interest in art which led me a position in Tulsa as an old school graphic designer, layout artist, and sign painter using expensive brushes. As a young adult, I decided to legally change my last name to Taitano which was my grandmother’s Guamanian maiden name. As an artist, I felt the name Taitano better represented who I was...and am.

In 1974, I became a father to my daughter Celestae. Although I wasn’t married to her mother long, I maintained a close relationship with my daughter. In 1988 my youngest daughter, Brandy, was born. She is a wonderful mother to my grandchildren, Kohen and Kennedy. She and husband Eric are raising my granddaughter, Pierce as their own. (Story to follow).
In 1988, at the age of 40 I was overweight 225 lbs, out of shape, smoked, drank, and was miserable. I turned my life around because I wanted to be a better role model for my daughters. I started a new life of health, fitness, and running. I ran races in state and out of state which included 5k’s, 10k’s half marathons, and marathons. My most memorable was the Klondike 110 mile relay race in Alaska. After a severe foot injury I started cycling. Cycling is my passion and I’ve won several championships including my recently Spartan Road Race Oklahoma State Championship Men’s 70 plus.

I retired from ONEOK Corporate Communications in 2008 with 40 years of service. ONEOK was a parent company of ONG. Working for ONEOK kept me busy with Corporate Sponsorships. I continued that part of my life by volunteering to help others. My experience with problematic mental health started at birth. My mother was a Prisoner of War suffering the worse type of abuse for years. She developed incredible strength but this experience left emotional scars that effected her as a parent. She developed Alzheimer’s before her death. My step-father was emotionally and physically abusive to me throughout childhood and beyond. Alcoholism took my older sister’s life. We were a far cry from “Leave It To Beaver”.

On June 18, 2016 my daughter, Celestae, was tragically murdered on the island of Kauai by her ex husband Chase Gibbons. This tuned my world and Celestae’s daughter Pierce Gibbons world upside down. After murdering my daughter my granddaughter, Pierce, begged for her life because her dad Chase was going to end Pierce’s life too.

Then, Chase put the gun in his mouth and committed suicide in the presence of my granddaughter.

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. Chase reached out to me several times prior to the murder but I was so upset with him due to his day trading, gambling addiction that caused him to lose millions of dollars and placed my daughter and granddaughter in jeopardy. While I urged him to seek counseling, I should have said what’s your address and I’ll have a Crisis Center person at your residence immediately.

Eric Gomez and I talked about forming our own RAAM team two months ago. The talk became a reality. We took Mental Health Awareness to a different level by targeting Suicide Prevention.

It hit home with both of us and so many others. Team Suicide Prevention is a network that I believe will help others as we Race to Save Lives!