Bill Stanfill

William A. "Bill" Stanfill, 75, of San Antonio survived Legionnaire's disease and cancer, and after battling the debilitating complications of Agent Orange exposure for the last several years, finally found peace Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, in San Antonio.

Bill was born Feb. 27, 1934, in Decatur, Ill., to H.D. "Stan" and Lucille Tudor Stanfill. He married his high school sweetheart, Carole Jeanne Womack, on May 19, 1956, and in the ensuing 53 years only Uncle Sam and now God have been able to separate them (and then only temporarily) because each always truly only wanted to be with the other.

Survivors include a son, William Bruce Stanfill, his wife Julie and grandsons Austin and Dylan; a daughter, Cheryl Jo Burns, her longtime companion Joseph Griffin, and grandchildren Justin and Rebecca Burns, all of Houston; two brothers, Dale "Stan" Stanfill and wife Gale of Wake Forest, N.C., and David Duane Stanfill and wife Jackie of Piney Flats, Tenn.

Bill proudly served his country, enlisting in the Army as a buck private in the 1950s and ultimately retiring more than 20 years later as a chief warrant officer (CW3). During that time he was "Airborne All the Way," and was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, 8th Special Forces Group, 18th Military Police Brigade, and he headed several CID field offices.

He was an outstanding criminal investigator with no tolerance for fools, for which he was twice awarded the Army Commendation Medal, as well as the Bronze Star upon completion of his second tour in Vietnam. While in the service he also completed two Defense Language Institutes (Japanese and Spanish) as well as his bachelor of science degree in criminology at the University of Nebraska in Omaha.

After retiring to Houston from the Army in 1973, Bill began his second career as a polygraph examiner. That lead to stints with the Defense Intelligence Agency, Smith Protective Services and ultimately as regional security director for Tandy Corp.'s McDuff Electronics stores.

In 1990, both Bill and Carole fully retired together. After retirement, "Grampy" could often be found fishing, golfing, playing on his computer, and was even known to drink a beer (or two) from time to time. But what Bill enjoyed the most about retirement was the time spent with family or traveling, or best of all, traveling with family.

In 1968, Bill, Carole and the kids piled into the family station wagon and drove from Washington, D.C., down the Pan American Highway through virtually every country in Central America, to Colon, Panama. More recently, the 50th anniversary family Caribbean cruise remains truly memorable. In between, Bill and Carole managed to travel to 48 of the 50 states plus England, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Okinawa, Panama (again), Quebec and most of the Caribbean islands.

Some of their most memorable trips included summer vacations with the grandkids, springtime in Paris, Grandmother West's 100th birthday bash, exploring the museums and coffee shops of Amsterdam, and watching the conch fall on New Year's in Key West.

Bill's happiest times were whenever he was with Carole, his brothers or any of the kids, especially if they were traveling. He also enjoyed sitting around the campfire swapping "stories" with his father-in-law, Jed Womack, visiting the West branch of the family in Illinois and remembering his childhood on the farm or catching up with the high school gang in Southeast Missouri or with his Army buddies around the country.

Pursuant to Bill's wishes, services will be private for the family.

For all who knew him and loved and respected him as we do, please keep him in your heart.

In the meantime, Bill has left for his final trip. We already miss him terribly and look forward to the time when we are all together again as family. So save us a good spot, Poppa, you got there first.

Schertz Funeral Home in Schertz, Texas, was in charge of arrangements.