Obituary for William “Bill” O. Graves, III William O. “Bill” Graves, III, 87, passed on December 12, 2018 with family surrounding him encouraging him to enter his heavenly home. Bill was born on September 29, 1931 to William O Graves, Jr. and Wanda A. (Rushing) Graves in Mound City, Illinois. Bill graduated from Anna-Jonesboro High School in Anna, Illinois in 1950.
He served in the United States Army from 1952-1954 during the Korean conflict at Greenham Common in England, building air strips for B52 Bombers. After his service he worked at the Veterans Administration in Downey, Illinois as a heavy equipment operator. In1960, he married Gale Williams and they moved to Wyoming.
There he worked construction and later became a civilian instructor on heavy equipment for Warren Air Force Base, where he worked for 28 years. In retirement, he worked for Laramie County School District #1 as a bus assistant to disabled students for 10 years. Later he and Gale operated a franchise for Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream, traveling to fairs and festivals in Wyoming and several other states.
During this time Bill had several opportunities to practice his talent for talking and meeting people which he loved. In his spare time, he was proud to show off his various Gold Wing motorcycles on long trips around the US and Canada. All in all, he rode over 100,000 miles with only one blow out and no accidents.
He also had an interest in classic cars and finally purchased a 1966 Ford Thunderbird which he was slowly restoring to original as possible. He loved Sponge Bob Square Pants cartoons, old western movie stars, Patsy Cline, and Davis Bakery’s créme horns in Anna, Illinois. He was a member of the Carpenter United Methodist Church with prior membership at Grace United Methodist Church in Cheyenne for many years.
He was a past member of the Christian Motorcycle Association and Goldwing Road Riders. He loved cars as long as they were Fords, and motorcycles as long as they were Hondas. He liked travel of all kinds except in airplanes.
He was extremely fond of camping and sitting by a bonfire. He adored his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was devoted to the love of his life, Gale.
Bill and Gale were married 58 years in July of this year. They have three daughters, Angela (Kelly) Goforth of Omaha, NE, Janna (John) Bannon of Cheyenne, and Belinda (Ken) Keel of Cheyenne; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister, Boswell and a brother, Gary Graves.
His parents and a brother, Bruce, preceded him in death. A memory service will be celebrated on Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church. A private inurnment will be held in Mountain View Memorial Park.
Cremation is under the care of Schrader, Aragon and Jacoby Funeral Home. To send flowers to the family of William “Bill” O. Graves, III, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.
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