William Lane

September 5, 1925 - September 6, 2013

William M. “Bill” Lane
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BENBROOK — William M. “Bill” Lane, 88, passed away Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 in Fort Worth. Service: 10 a.m. Monday at the First Baptist Church in Granbury. Burial: Prairie Valley Cemetery in Whitney. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the building fund of Fort Graham Baptist Church of Whitney.
William was born Sept. 5, 1925 in Dallas to Thomas Marshall and Lona Onita Wynne Lane. He was raised in Irving, graduated from Irving High School in 1942 and joined the United States Marines at age 17. He served in the South Pacific for three years in battles at Guadalcanal, Talugi, the Florida, Beneka and Russell Islands, Tarawa, Kwaijalien and Eniwetok Island.
After the war, he went to Baylor University in Waco on a football scholarship. There he met and married Betty Jean Johnson on October 9, 1946. After leaving Baylor, he worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Dallas County for 17 years and Hill County for 22 years.
He is a life member of the VFW Post 8571 in Whitney where he served as Post Commander for two terms and was a member of the American Legion Post 491 in Granbury.
He belonged to First Baptist Church in Irving, First Baptist Church in Whitney, Fort Graham Baptist Church in Whitney and First Baptist Church in Granbury. He was an associate member of the First Baptist Church in Desdemona.
Anyone who knew Bill will remember him as larger than life with a personality to match. He loved his God, his family, his church and he loved to tell a clean joke. He was proud to serve his country as a Marine in World War II in the South Pacific.
Bill was preceded in death by his mother, Lona Vandergriff and by his wife, Betty on December 27, 2007.
Survivors: Daughter: Linda Smith and husband, Ron of Burleson; sons, William M.