Billy Joe "Mr. Bill" Thetford

Billy Joe Thetford, of Killeen, passed away at the VA hospital in Temple on Saturday, October 29, 2022, at age 91.

Visitation and viewing will be held on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel, from 5:00-7:00 p.m.    

The family will then hold a Memorial service the following week, following cremation as Mr. Bill had requested.    The Memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday November 9, 2022, in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel.

Billy was born June 24, 1931, to Joe Jefferies Thetford and Sammie Lewis Thetford at Horn Hill.  He grew up in the Horn Hill community and attended school in Groesbeck.    

Billy served in the U.S. Army from November 1951 to November 29, 1954, during the Korean war.   He was not in combat, but he laid communications lines across the Korean countryside.

Mr. Bill had many various work experiences during his lifetime.  While living in Oklahoma, he sold velvet paintings which he imported from Mexico.  When the family moved to Freeport, he opened and operated a successful business named Black Light, where he sold swimsuits, seashells and other beach things.  

The family moved to Groesbeck where he briefly operated a business, and then he opened an upholstery shop in Mexia, where he did upholstery and repairs.

Later, he and his son Mike opened an electric scooter business, Scooter Mikes, in Waco, and then they opened a new retail motorcycle business, Komoto Power Sports, in Killeen, selling and repairing motorcycles.     After Mike was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, the shop closed, and Mr. Bill retired and lived with his son Brandon in Killeen.   He tried to fill his spare times with visiting with people, watching sports on TV and puzzles, and driving around reminiscing of the past.  His health had declined in the past year, and he entered the nursing home in February.

Mr. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Sammie Thetford; his sister, LaNeal Ann Ballew; brother, James Roland Thetford; and his son, Michael Reed Thetford.

He is survived by his son, Brandon Lewis Thetford of China Spring; daughter, Janice Karen Thetford of Killeen; sister, Diane Thetford Croy of Frisco; 4 grandsons: Dylan Matthew McGuffee of Groesbeck, Kadon Andrew Thetford of Mexia, Bryce Atlee Thetford of Mexia, and Brady Ames Thetford of Mexia; and two great granddaughters, Megan McGuffee Feverston of Mexia, and Caitlin McGuffee of Mexia.