I put together this slide show for his Memorial Service.

Here’s a copy of the shortened obituary from the program:

Bill’s Story

Bill was born May 11, 1908 on a farm in Orleans, Nebraska to Edward and Carrie Correll. Bill was the eighth of eleven children. His early years were spent on farms in Nebraska and Kansas. Bill graduated from Garden County High School in Oshkosh, NE in 1926. In 1927 he moved to Montana to farm with an older brother Sam. It was there that he met and married the love of his life Margie Boice in 1930.

In 1932 severe drought and the Great Depression forced Bill and Margie to leave farming and Montana to seek employment in Washington State. They settled in Ellensburg where Bill became a radiator repairman/mechanic and auto parts man at Heinrich Auto Electric and later Butterfield Chevrolet.

While Bill and Margie were living in Ellensburg they both came to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and became active in His service.

When the US entered WWII in 1941 Bill went to work for the Boeing Company in Renton where he was a foreman of millwrights.

When the war ended Bill and Margie moved to Ephrata and started Correll Radiator Service which eventually developed into Sun City Auto Supply.

Bill and Margie helped to start the Ephrata First Baptist Church in 1947 and continued a very active involvement in the Lord’s work there for the rest of their lives.

Bill retired from selling auto parts in 1975. Later he went back to work part time as a farm hand for Murray Van Dyke of Quincy. Bill loved being back in farming after a 60 year absence and enjoyed working for Murray for several years before fully retiring in his 80′s.

Over the years Bill enjoyed many hobbies including photography, fishing, painting, woodworking, giant walnut propagation, reading, watching the Mariners, and eventually maintaining a weekly blog on the Internet.

He wrote a couple of books and received two patents, one for a radiator funnel in the 1950′s, and another for a folding saw horse in the 1970′s.

Bill was preceded in death in 2002 by Margie, his beloved wife of 72 years. He is survived by one brother Ivan Correll of North Carolina, a sister-in-law and brother-in-law Maxine and Gerald French of Ellensburg, a brother-in-law Clifford Boice of California, a daughter Doris Matlock of Soap Lake, a son and daughter-in-law Gary and Karen Correll of Nine Mile Falls, WA, a daughter and son-in-law Sue and Paul Barton of Portland, OR, and a son and daughter-in-law Bill and Debbie Correll of Ephrata. Bill also leaves 13 grand children, 24.2 great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, his church family, and many friends.

I love my Grandpa, and am very fortunate to have such an awesome Christian heritage. Here’s a fun shot with ML and Grandpa from this last summer.

I posted all the pics from the slideshow here.

Oh and if you didn’t gather it, I’m the .2 for great grandchildren.