PLYMPTON, South Australia — Bill Winslow, 73, passed away on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, at his home in Plympton, South Australia.
Born in Parsons, Kansas, at Mercy Hospital on July 4, 1952, Bill lived a full and exciting life. He attended schools in Parsons, graduating from Parsons High School in 1970.
In 1975, he graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in medical technology and microbiology and began a successful career in medical research focusing on many human-transmitted diseases, including Legionella and, most recently, COVID-19.
Bill married Mai Duong in October 1977. After graduating from KU, they moved to Virginia. In 1984, they moved to Adelaide, Australia, where Mai’s family lived. He became an Australian citizen in May 1998 and maintained dual citizenship for the remainder of his life.
Along with Bill’s successful career in research and lab science, he was a member of the local Rotary Club where he was a two-time president receiving the Paul Harris Fellow recognition for his exceptional commitment to community service and philanthropy. Through his Rotary group, he helped build schools in Papua New Guinea and joined medical educational groups there to help prevent the spread of malaria.
Along with his work and volunteer life, he loved sports. As an expert windsurfer and sailor, he crewed with a team in several yacht regattas in the waters around Adelaide. He excelled at golf and was a member at the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide, once scoring a hole in one and maintaining a handicap of between 2 and -4. He organized golf trips to many Southeast Asian golf courses for other members and won multiple awards and championships as an amateur player. He was so dedicated to the game he played two holes of golf on the last day of his life. Bill never forgot his roots and always followed the Kansas City Chiefs, the Royals and all KU sports.
He loved to travel and visited many of the world’s most exotic locations with trips to the Galapagos Islands, Machu Pichu, Kolahoi Glacier in Kashmir, China, India and multiple locations in Southeast Asia. He drove all over central Europe as well as many of the U.S. states.
Bill was a friendly, cheerful and kind person who will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
He is survived by his wife, Mai Duong; along with four sisters, Marilyn Winslow of San Francisco, Judy Molinary of Dallas, Barbara Cook of Overland Park and Jayne Winslow of Cape Cod; and three brothers, John Winslow of Denver, Joe Winslow of Topeka and Michael Winslow of Colorado Springs.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert W. Winslow and Nora M. Winslow.
Bill was cremated in August after a service in Adelaide, South Australia.
