Bill was married to Stella Gorman for 65 years. They met when his best friend Dee Hamilton suggested they take some girls a couple of blocks over on a motorcycle ride. That’s when he met the love of his life and two years later Bill and Stella married in their pastor's Raytown, Mo. home on June 2, 1955.
In 1957 Bill was called to the US Army where he served as a mechanic on tanks and heavy equipment in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Stella soon joined him in Kentucky and later their first son Bill Jr. was born there in 1958. Bill and Stella welcomed two more sons, Steven in 1962 and Daniel in 1965.
Bill was a Senior Master Mechanic with the Operating Engineers Local 101 and worked on all manner of heavy equipment. He could build or repair anything put in front of him and in retirement spent many hours, days, and weeks building model engines from blocks of steel and aluminum. He delighted at showing off his creations to his family, and friends and at numerous engine shows across the country. He was a frequent contributor to Model Engine Builder Magazine and a member of the Lathrop Model Engine Club.
Bill had an active church life and had recently joined Coventry Baptist Church in Independence, Mo where he felt welcomed and at home. Pie making of all things was his specialty and he brightened many a day with them.
Bill lived his life to the end in the fullest way possible. Most recently he had delivered Mother’s Day flowers to three churches, three pies to close friends who could use a smile, and laid flowers on the gravesites of numerous friends and family that had passed before him. He was a rock and an anchor for his family and community.
Bill and Stella were blessed with five grandchildren, Kelly Glass (Michael), Samantha Price, Josh Gorman (Desiree), Kenneth Gorman (Hannah), and Caleb Gorman (Kirsten), and five great-grandchildren, Carter and Preston Glass, Maci and Matthew Price and one unborn child Baby Frydenlund.
Bill is preceded in death by his wife Stella, his parents, brothers Don and Ray, son Daniel, and daughter-in-law Kim Gorman.
Funeral services will be held Friday, May 31st at the Reser Funeral Home in Warsaw, Missouri. Visitation will be at 10:00 A.M. with services to follow at 11:00 A.M. Burial will be at Climax Springs, Mo. cemetery following the services.
Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the General Missionary Fund at Coventry Baptist Church, 17133 E 39th Street, Independence, Mo, 64055.
Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than a precious ointment, and the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth.
