William Shockley
William Ernest “Wild Bill” Shockley, MAJ, USAF (ret), died on July 7,
2010, at the age of 87, at his home in Lubbock, Texas.
Bill was born on October 23, 1922,
in Paducah, Texas, and grew up in Texas. He joined the Army Air Corp on
November 18, 1940, at the age of 17, making him the first volunteer from
Chavez County, TX to enlist under President Roosevelt’s Selective
Service Act. This Act called for men to register for the draft in
November, 1940 for a one-year hitch, but Bill just kept extending. He
served with the 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Bliss, El Paso,
TX, and was stationed in England in 1942-43. He returned to the U.S.,
he took liaison pilot training and became a member of the “Flying
Sergeants”, and earned the nickname “Wild Bill” due to his daring
escapades.
He was stationed in China in 1947, and in Korea, where he was designated
the first expert director in the Eastern Air Defense Force. After
Korea, he went to Formosa, and was stationed at a Pescadores Islands
radar site. He undertook radar training at Panama City, Florida, in
1953. In 1958 he returned to Roswell, NM, served with the Strategic Air
Command, 686th AC&W Squadron as a weapons controller at
Walker AFB. He spent time in Germany in 1962-63, and retired from the
Air Force on August 1, 1968.
He married Lillian Mertie Baker in 1947.
He is survived by his eight children: Sandra Jean, Barbara Ann, William
Ernest, Jr., Leslie Michael, Patrick Samuel, Daniel Ray, James Timothy,
and Michael Paul, as well as siblings Ray Wesley, Betty Francis, and
Carroll Dean. He is predeceased by his parents, Samuel Ernest Shockley
and Mary Etta Elledge, daughter, Teresa Elaine, and siblings Abigail
Inez, Raymond Leslie, and Mildred Jean.
Visitation for friends and family is scheduled for Sunday, July 11th,
2010, from 4:00pm to 5:00pm, at Sanders Funeral Home, 1420 Main Street,
Lubbock, TX, 79401. Graveside services are scheduled for Monday, July
12, 2010, at 10:30am, at the City of Lubbock Cemetery, 2011 31st
St., Lubbock, Texas.
|
