Bill Paxton

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Bill Paxton on November 29, 2014 at age 90 years.Funeral: Friday at 10 am in Moore Funeral Home South Chapel, followed by the interment in Moore Memorial Gardens. Family and Friends are invited to gather as of 9 am.Bill was born in Madill, Oklahoma on Nov. 26, 1924 to Hoyt Meredith and Lucille Splawn Paxton. The family resided in Amarillo and Quero before moving to Fort Worth, where he attended Polytechnic High School. He served in the Navy Seabees during WWII for 3 ½ years. He served in California, Newfoundland and the Philippine Islands before his Honorable discharge in 1946. Later in the year he married Margaret Gambill. They were blessed by celebrating their 68th Wedding Anniversary on Nov. 15, 2014. After service, he joined the Local plumbers union and soon earned his journeyman plumber’s license. He worked for Leslie Miller Mechanical Contractors, supervising plumbers working on the underground refueling system at Carswell Air Base, for Gen. Curtis LeMay’s B-52 Bombers and later at Camp Walters in Mineral Wells.In 1954, Bill and his brother Jack Paxton began operating Ace Cleaners & Laundry; eventually they had five locations in the Fort Worth area with Bill operating the dry cleaning business and Jack operating the laundry. Bill and Jack opened the first Norge Dry Cleaning & Laundry Coin Operated Business in Fort Worth at 3307 E Vickery Blvd, on June 8, 1961. They sold their business in early 1982 when Bill and Margaret moved to their farm in Covington and Jack retired. Bill purchased 243 wooded acres in 1966 and took night courses in Beef Production & Pasture Land Management at TCU. He was named Absentee Conservation Farmer of the Year while living and working in Fort Worth. With the help of the Hill County Soil Conservation Office in Hillsboro, he developed a conservation plan for his acreage, thinning underbrush and trees on a selective basis permitting the growth of Coastal Grass while retaining large trees for beautification and shade for his cattle. He cross fenced his pastures with 9300 feet of barbed wire, including a stock tank in each pasture to allow for rotation of his cattle. Bill became a member of the Masonic Lodge on Hemphill as a young man, and transferred his membership to Covington, where he received his 60 year service pin in December 2012. Bill was a member of the Downtown SS class and Deacon in the First Baptist Church of Hillsboro.Bill was preceded in death by a son, James Gary Paxton, as well as his Father, Mother, and Brother Jack S. Paxton. Survivors: wife Margaret Paxton, daughter Karen Paxton McLure Rogers and husband Randy; granddaughters Leslye McLure and Katherine McLure Grayson and husband John Grayson; nieces Sherry Paxton Moore and husband Jim, and Debbie Paxton and her husband Tom Griffith, great-nieces Hayley Glenn and husband Jason, Sunnye McLanahan and husband Michael; great-nephews Robby Moore and wife Kristin, and Zachary Weinberg and wife Rachael. The family wishes to thank Rev. Kenneth James, Jim Moore for officiating the service today and for Don McCall providing the music.