Billy M. Weiszbrod
Billy M. Weiszbrod died Tuesday, September 17, 2013, in Greenville, Texas. He was born on May 28, 1924 in Greenfield, Oklahoma, to Fred E. and Merle M. Dennison Weiszbrod. Because of parental divorce, the State of Oklahoma granted his legal custody to his maternal grandparents, Howard and Fannie Dennison. He lived with them until adulthood. After graduation from Greenfield high School in 1942, he joined the U. S. Navy. He served in the Pacific Theater, during WWII, as a Aircraft Mechanic and Air Crewman on PB2Y Flying Boat Patrol Bombers. He also served aboard the U.S.S. Salisbury Sound (AV-13) Sea Plane Tender.
After discharge from the Navy in 1946, he lived in the Rio Grande Valley, where he married Ora Jo Griffin Nordahl on March 27, 1947. With this union, he acquired a stepson and stepdaughter, Noble and Linda Nordahl, whom he loved and raised as his own. He worked as an aircraft mechanic for Pan American Airways in Brownsville, Texas and, later, as a cabinet maker for Williams Cabinet Shop in Mission, Texas. He later owned and operated Bill’s Cabinet Shop and was a Vocational Instructor, teaching Cabinet Making and Boat Building to W W II Veterans in the Valley Vocations School System in Donna, Texas.
On leaving the Valley in 1951, he moved his family to Greenville, Texas and went to work for TEMCO, as a Flight Line Mechanic and Inspector. In 1957, after being graduated from East Texas State Teacher’s College (now A&M Commerce), he transferred to the Engineering Department of the Company, then called Ling-TEMCO-Vought (LTV). He worked as a Technical Writer, Proposal Publications Specialist and Technical Illustrator. He retired from E-Systems in 1988, after a total of 36+ years.
He will be remembered by some as “Happy the Clown”, who entertained at the Bowie Elementary School Halloween Carnivals for 24 years. For some 30 years, he and Jo spent their vacations and retirement traveling by motor home and, in the process, visited all the contiguous United States, all the bordering provinces of Canada, and several states in Mexico. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, of 59 years; a son, Daniel Steven Weiszbrod; his parents and grandparents; a sister, Mary Beth Ayers Phillips; a grandson, Lynn Sterling Nordahl; and a nephew, Stephen Wayne Phillips. He is survived by a daughter-in-law, Judith Darlene Weiszbrod of Greenville, Texas; a son, John David Weiszbrod and wife Sherri of Springfield, OR; a stepson, Noble Lynn Nordahl and wife Judy of Chandler, OK; a stepdaughter, Linda Joann Nordahl White and husband Wendell of Coupeville, WA; nine grandchildren, Jeffrey, Christopher, Coleen, William, Elizabeth, Ryan, Nikki, Makayla, and Heather. Four great-grandchildren, Darrell, Lynnette, Josephine and Aurora. Two nieces, Lynn and Maureen; and two nephews, Bill and Gregory.
A memorial service will be held 10:00 AM, Monday, October 7, 2013 at Coker-Mathews Funeral Home Chapel with Frank Morgan officiating.
