Arthur "Bill" William Smith

Arthur William “Bill” Smith, of Groesbeck, passed away at his home on Saturday, July 16, 2016, at age 76. Visitation will be held Wednesday, July 20, 2016, from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. at Groesbeck Funeral Home. Services will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, July 21, 2016, in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel, with Brother Larry Wilson of the Davis Chapel Church of Christ officiating. Burial will follow at 2:00 P.M. at Oaklawn Cemetery in Rockdale, where his parents are buried. Pallbearers will be Micah Morgan, Scott Smith, David Hughes, Mark Smith, Brian Swick, Marcus Hanna, Bobby Wilson, John Norman, Bob Waller, and Rawls King. Honorary pallbearers will be Mason Lodge #354, Groesbeck High School Class of 1961, Groesbeck Goat Football Players, the Dairy Queen coffee table group, the Waco Skeet and Trap Club friends, "Out and About" Christian Singles Club, Rand Bates and Barber Shop Friends, and "In Memory of his deceased friends, Dr. J. B. Riggs, Henry Cox, and Bradley Swick. Bill was born April 20, 1940 to Arthur M. and Lillian Smith in Rockdale. The family moved to Calvert and then to Groesbeck when Bill was in the seventh grade. They first lived in a shotgun house on Colorado Street behind the Hewitt’s and later moved to a house on Highway 14 beside the Hewitt’s Flower Shop. His dad worked as a butcher for Joe Tom Henderson, and died suddenly not long after they moved to Groesbeck. Mrs. Smith worked as a nursery attendant at the First Baptist Church and also helped Mary Hewitt at the flower shop. From living near and being at the shop, Bill and Danny Hewitt’s bond as brothers developed. After Bill’s mother passed away at age 48, while Bill was a Junior, Herbert and Mary Hewitt became his guardians, and provided a home for him. He called them Papa Hewitt and Mamma Hewitt the rest of his life. Many of Bill’s classmates may remember how good he was in math in school, and how much he helped many of them with algebra (Ms. Imogene White’s class.) Bill graduated from Groesbeck High School in the Class of 1961. Bill especially loved the game of football, and the more he could do for people the better he liked it. During high school, Bill was the team manager for the Groesbeck Goats. He took on many duties, including mowing the line and mowing the whole field, chalking the lines before every football game, which included Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday games for the B-team, Groesbeck High, Blackshear-Washington High, and Thornton Tigers. He ran water onto the field for the guys, passed out salt tablets, and after every game he washed all the towels and uniforms to have them ready for the next game. He became skilled in taping ankles, with training from the late Dr. J. B. Riggs and Truett Jones, and he also did this for the out-of-team teams in their locker rooms. He received a certificate as a trainer his senior year. He ran the athletic locker room for the boy’s and girl’s teams in all sports. He rode the bus to the out-of-town games, where he taped ankles and helped with the uniforms. He never complained of the time he spent and work he did. He will be fondly remembered by the players, coaches, band, and all those throughout the years who knew how much he gave of his time. He had planned to participate in a program at Baylor to be a trainer, but the program was eliminated, so he was instead trained in Kansas City, MO. for a year in auto-body work. This was not his true interest, however, so he went to work at Varo in Mexia. When their naval contracts ended and Varo closed, Bill went to work at the Mexia State School. He worked in the laundry department over twenty-three years before retiring. Bill retired at the State School in 1998 to help Mamma Hewitt at the Groesbeck Flower Shop. He delivered an untold number of flower arrangements to people, and he continued to help Danny and Cindy Hewitt when they took over the shop. Bill continued to assist the Groesbeck Goats as manager over the next fifty years, standing on the sidelines of every game. When a boy was hurt, Bill was the first one on the field to check on him. In 2006, Bill was honored at the Groesbeck Homecoming as “Mr. Homecoming 2006” for his contributions as a “Volunteer Goat Football Trainer for 50 Years.” Bill could recall details of many games (such as a game in Franklin played at fifteen degrees); he estimated he had worked with sixteen head coaches and over 1200 Groesbeck Goat players. He was especially proud to attend the Groesbeck Goat State Championship game in the Astrodome in 1991, and proud of the huge number of Groesbeck fans who were in attendance. In addition to football, Bill enjoyed fishing trips with Danny. He enjoyed going to deer camp during hunting season with Marcus Hanna, Henry Cox, and Bobby Wilson, and with Dr. Riggs to hunt at Johnson City. He was a member of the Waco Skeet and Trap Club, shooting clay pigeons with his 12-guage shotgun, and he won numerous awards in shooting. He had a great time on a trip with Dr. Riggs to Mexico City where they met the Olympic Air Force shooting team guys. Another special trip was several years ago, when he traveled to Indiana with friends, and competed in the National Shoot. Bill loved to go dancing, whether at the Cowboy Club, in Waco, after trap shoots, at local homecoming and street dances. When Danny’s daughter, Jennifer Love Hewitt was born, she was his pride and joy. He enjoyed his good neighbors, Steve Hurt and his daughter Delores. He was called "Uncle Willie or Uncle Bill" by many. He was a member of the "Out and About" Christian Singles Club, and enjoyed eating out with them each month. Bill enjoyed spending time with very close friends, including Judy Bennett before she moved, and Laurye Allen and her family, and Emma Faye Dick and her family, and with all the friends he saw frequently while eating at Swick’s BBQ, Dairy Queen, Mary’s Burger Barn, Steven’s Grocery, S&H, and other eating places in town. Bill was a member of the Groesbeck Masonic Lodge No. 354, for the past forty-plus years. He had worked in past years, part-time at Groesbeck Funeral Home, and made many trips in the funeral van assisting Ken Lee and Danny Hewitt. He was a close friend and brother-in-law to Cindy Hewitt, watching out for her while Danny was making funeral home trips out of town. To Danny, he was “My Brother.” Bill was preceded in death by his father and mother, Arthur and Lillian Smith; Papa (Herbert) and Mamma (Mary) Hewitt; sister, Nita Gay; and niece, Garilyn Hutchinson. He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Danny and Cindy Hewitt of Groesbeck; two cousins, Shelby and Nona Lee, remaining of the Smith family; nephew, Todd and Michelle Hewitt and family of Tallahasse, FL.; niece, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brian Halsey and children; nephew, Lance and Lainie Browning of Whitehouse and great nephews, Nicholas and Trent Browning; niece, Donna Stewart and husband Terry of Groesbeck; nephew, Rusty and Lisa Gay of Tomball; great niece, Lisa Stewart-King and Toby King of Groesbeck; niece, Lori and Don Henderson of Lorena; great nephew, Keston Henderson of Lorena; great nieces, Niki Henderson and Cynamon Walters and Jordan Walters, and Kristi Hutchinson and Kristopher, Gabby and Kyla Hutchinson of Groesbeck; and other extended family and close friends. Anyone wishing to make donations in memory of Bill Smith may make them to the Groesbeck Athletic Booster Club, P. O. Box 742, Groesbeck, TX 76642.