William “Bill” Toal, who had been Chief Economist for the Portland Cement Association until his retirement in June of last year, died on March 16 at the age of 60. Toal was considered the primary expert economics and forecasting for the cement, concrete, and construction industries. He was also a frequent contributor to Cement Americas, as well as a regular speaker at the magazine's annual International Cement conferences.

Toal attended the University of Notre Dame from 1961-1970, where he earned a B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. in economics. Toal first worked at the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, then became an economist for the State of Illinois in Springfield. For a time, he taught economics at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa and worked for The Allen-Bradley Co. in Milwaukee, Wis., as Manager of Forecasting and Corporate Economist, after which he spent some time in Washington, D.C. as an Economist for the U.S. Government.

Toal then was the Chief Economist for the Governor of the State of Minnesota in St. Paul. After that, he worked for Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Chicago as their Manager of Forecasting, and lastly worked at PCA beginning in 1987 as economist. He was promoted to Chief Economist in 1989.

Toal was a member of the National Association of Business Economists and he enjoyed boating and spending time at his Ft. Myers, Fla. condo.