William (Bill) A. Childress passed away on October 20,2014. A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Murfreesboro, at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, October 25,2014. The Reverend John Hinkle and Dr. Kaye Nickell will officiate. Bill was born July 1, 1930, in Kilmichael, MS., to parents John Albert and Mary Ethel Hall Childress. He attended high school at Big Black Consolidated High School, MS., graduating in 1948. He was preceded in death by his parents, twelve siblings and half- siblings, including Clara Childress Osborn, Ellen Childress Eldridge, and Bud Childress. Bill is survived by his wife, Elizabeth (Betty) Childress of Murfreesboro, his daughter, Anita Childress Norman of Fayetteville, and his son, Roger William Childress (Candace) of Murfreesboro, his step- daughter, Kristin Pernoll Hinson (Jon) of Charlotte, NC., and his step-son, Martin (Bud) Pernoll (Emily) of Santa Monica, CA. Also surviving are his grandchildren, William Neil Norman (Jenny), Joshua Norman all of Nashville. Julie Norman Tate (Travis) of Fayetteville. In addition are his step-grandchildren, Kelsey Elizabeth Manzano and Christopher Stephen Manzano of Charlotte, NC., Gillian Pernoll and Elizabeth Pernoll of Santa Monica. He has four great-grandchildren, Grace Norman Wilson, Brianna, Colton, and Brody Tate. A surviving sister is Dixie Kilgore of Raymond, AL. Several nieces and nephews from Mississippi also survive. Bill was enlisted in the U. S. Navy from 1950 to 1954. While in the Navy, Bill served aboard the aircraft carriers USS Boxer and the USS Kearsarge attached to aircraft fighter squadrons that were operating off the coast of Korea. In 1952 he was wounded by friendly fire on the Kearsarge when a returning aircraft did not clear its guns before landing. The man next to him was killed and he was received wounds to his legs. He-was awarded the China Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the United Nations Medal. . After the service, he was employed at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. He ended his working career as Chief of Contract Property Control at the NASA Michaud Assembly Facility office, Department of Defense in New Orleans, retiring in 1989. While working in Huntsville, he worked with the Boy Scouts of Fayetteville and Civitan where he founded the Jr. Civitan club. He and his wife, Betty, moved to Murfreesboro in 1990 where Bill was involved with Habitat for Humanity being in charge of procuring homes for over 40 families. He was a member of the Rutherford Society of the St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital, of the First Presbyterian Church, was a Jack Daniels Tennessee Squire, a former member of the Sportsman's Club. He was also a member of the Childress/Childers Family Association and the MTSU Blue Raiders. He enjoyed golfmg, gardening, bridge, cooking, genealogy research, and was an avid reader. The family wishes to thank Teresa Schmitz and Phyllis Eddy for their long term friendship and care and Dee Pitts and Larry Osborne for their recent help with his complications of Parkinson's Disease. Bill was a caring and loving husband, father, step-father, grand-father and great-grandfather. He was greatly loved and will be greatly missed. Memorial donations may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 210 N. Spring St., Murfreesboro, TN or the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018. Online condolences may be made at www.woodfinchapel.com.