Bill Rust served in the US Navy as a physician before establishing his gynecology practice in Jacksonville, Florida. He and his wife raised their three children in a family home along the St. John's River, where his love for sailing and water sports deepened. After retirement, Rust and his wife spent several months abroad at various locations in the Marshall Islands, India, Russia, and Morocco so he could volunteer his time as a general medicine practitioner. On two separate occasions, he also taught English at the military medical school in Xian, China.