Dobell was a very private man, known almost always as "Bill".
He died on 13 May 1970 in the City of Lake Macquarie suburb of Wangi Wangi of hypertensive heart disease.
The sole beneficiary of his estate was the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, which was founded on 19 January 1971 and awards the Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial, which is named in his honour.
He was cremated with Anglican rites and his ashes interred at Newcastle Memorial Park in Beresfield, New South Wales.

A film of Dobell's life, titled Yours sincerely, Bill Dobell was made in 1981 by Brian Adams and Cathy Shirley for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and the William Dobell Art Foundation.
Brian Adams' book Portrait of an Artist – A biography of William Dobell was first published in 1983 by Hutchinson Publishing Group and revised in paperback in 1992 for Random House Australia.

A book on the life and art of William Dobell, William Dobell: An Artist's Life by Elizabeth Donaldson, was compiled in 2010 with the support of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and Dobell House, in Wangi Wangi.
It is published by Exisle Publishing.

A biography, Bill: The Life of William Dobell, was published in 2014 by Scott Bevan.
Dobell was a very private man, known almost always as "Bill". He died on 13 May 1970 in the City of Lake Macquarie suburb of Wangi Wangi of hypertensive heart disease. The sole beneficiary of his estate was the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, which was founded on 19 January 1971 and awards the Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial, which is named in his honour. He was cremated with Anglican rites and his ashes interred at Newcastle Memorial Park in Beresfield, New South Wales.
A film of Dobell's life, titled Yours sincerely, Bill Dobell was made in 1981 by Brian Adams and Cathy Shirley for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and the William Dobell Art Foundation. Brian Adams' book Portrait of an Artist – A biography of William Dobell was first published in 1983 by Hutchinson Publishing Group and revised in paperback in 1992 for Random House Australia.
A book on the life and art of William Dobell, William Dobell: An Artist's Life by Elizabeth Donaldson, was compiled in 2010 with the support of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and Dobell House, in Wangi Wangi. It is published by Exisle Publishing.
A biography, Bill: The Life of William Dobell, was published in 2014 by Scott Bevan.
William Dobell