Dr. Bill Stacy

Dr. Bill W. Stacy, 85, of Cape Girardeau passed away Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, after a lengthy illness. He was surrounded by his loving wife of 34 years, Sue Varnon Stacy; his children; his brother; and other family members.

Bill was born July 26, 1938, to Frank and Sarah Louise Nelson Stacy in Bristol, Tennessee. His father died in 1941. During this time of great family hardship, they moved to Missouri, where Bill excelled in sports. Upon graduation from Jefferson City High School, he accepted a football scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State College. While there, he also played basketball, participated in track and field, and acted in the role of John Proctor in "The Crucible".

After graduating in 1960, Bill was hired to teach speech and physical education and to coach football, basketball and track at Malden High School. In 1967, he returned to Southeast Missouri State College to teach speech communication and theater, as he was completing his Doctor of Philosophy in Speech and Communications at Southern Illinois University. Bill lobbied with others to change SEMO from a college to a university designation, and in 1975 he was named the first dean of the graduate school of Southeast Missouri State University.

Bill then served as president of the university from 1979 to 1989. As president, he founded the general education and honors programs. He made the decision to purchase the Brodsky Collection of papers and memorabilia dedicated to William Faulkner. The University's Center for Faulkner Studies holds a Faulkner conference biannually and is attended by people from around the world. He spearheaded the transition of athletics to the Ohio Valley Conference, and Bill was especially pleased to have secured state and local support to build the Show Me Center. His contributions to the growth of the Southeast campus also included the addition of athletic facilities on the north campus, the construction of a new Robert A. Dempster Hall of Business, the Roger F. Rhodes Hall of Science, Johnson Hall, the relocation of the University Alumni Center to the Sprigg Street location and the Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building.

In 1989, Bill was chosen to be the founding president of California State University in San Marcos, the first new U.S. public state university to be built in more than 20 years. He was tasked with recruiting the initial faculty, securing funding for construction and defining the mission for the university. The new campus opened in 1992. His contributions to the growth of this institution included the Academic Hall, Science Hall I and the University Commons. He also secured funding for the infrastructure to grow a 20-building, 300-acre campus. In addition, he secured private funding for the Kellogg Library and the Lucille Griset Spicer student loan fund. Today, CSU-San Marcos serves more than 16,000 students.

Bill served as chancellor of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga from 1997 to 2004. During his tenure, he completed the development of doctoral programs in physical therapy and computational engineering, including The SimCenter, the first internationally-recognized research facility at UTC. Campus expansion during this time included the addition of dormitories that changed an adjacent, underdeveloped area of land into South Campus housing, a major contribution to the public/private partnership that added to the development of the Chattanooga Riverfront. He also expanded the University Center and secured state funding for the Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science Building.

From 2004 until 2009, he served as headmaster of the Baylor School in Chattanooga. In that role he led a transformative development campaign that upgraded campus infrastructure, student facilities and the athletics complex.

He married Margaret Jane Cooper in 1958. During their marriage they raised three children: Mark, Sara and Jim. In 1988, Bill married Dr. Mary Sue Varnon, his loving companion and surviving spouse. Bill and Sue retired in 2009 after a lifetime of service to education. In 2013, they were jointly awarded the UTC Outstanding Service Award.

Bill served as chair of Greater Chattanooga United Way and secretary of Memorial Hospital Foundation. He was past president of Rotary Club of Chattanooga and served on the boards of directors for Chamber of Commerce, Tennessee Aquarium, Junior Achievement and Allied Arts. Bill and Sue continued to enjoy being with old friends and making new ones. Bill particularly enjoyed being the coveted senior member of the team in local best-ball golf tournaments. Always the athlete, he could reach almost any green in Chattanooga from those "senior tees". However, an April 2020 tornado landed within blocks of their Chattanooga home, and that provided strong motivation for them to move near family in Cape Girardeau.

Bill was a paragon of unquestionable character, moral conviction and the most humble example of man. He was forever grateful for the kindnesses and encouragement he received from a wide array of people. He made friends easily, was always fun to be around and was absolutely committed to bettering the lives of others, as others had contributed to his own trajectory of success — from being the first in his family to go to college, to earning his doctoral degree, on through serving three universities as their president. In keeping with his passion for the value of higher education, one of his greatest joys was knowing that each of his children and grandchildren had earned at least one college degree.

He is survived by his wife, Sue Varnon Stacy of Cape Girardeau; brother, Lynn (Kaye) Stacy of Jefferson City; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Patt Sharp of Kennett, Deloris (Joe) Raffety of Clarksville, Tennessee, Betty Cruse of Cape Girardeau, Nita Roodman (Toby) of Cape Girardeau, Betty Stacy of Diamond Springs, California, Tony (Janet) Varnon of Cape Girardeau and Richard (Suzanne) Varnon of Memphis, Tennessee; and stepsister, Pattie Thorp of Clearwater, Florida.

Also surviving are his children, Dr. Mark (Tina) Stacy of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Sara (Dan) Dyer of Nashville, Tennessee, and Jim (Laurie) Stacy of Milwaukee; and grandchildren, Adam (Leah) Dyer, Bryan Stacy, Bailey (Landon) Cheben, Colin (Adrienne) Dyer and Andrea (William) Li-Stacy. He especially loved his three great grandchildren, Lydia and Mia Cheben and Leo Li-Stacy.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Louise Stacy; his stepfather, Charlie Altwater; his brother, Charles Stacy; two stepsisters, Mildred (Leonard) Shatola and Mary Ann (Glen) Gutwein; and brothers-in-law, John Sam Varnon Jr., Stanley Varnon, Mack Varnon, Stephen Rhodes Sharp and Bob Cruse.

Bill was known for a number of humorous or encouraging sayings. One he'd often repeat to a "too-busy-now" friend: "It's going to take just as long to do this tomorrow or the day after as it will today, so let's just get it done."

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, and again at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at the funeral home, with a livestream available on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/s/dr-bill-stacy-funeral/735056238504844/.

A private burial service will be held at Fairdealing Cemetery, southwest of Poplar Bluff.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to United Way.

Online condolences may be made at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.