William George Farnum

William “Bill” George Farnum, age 73, died after a brief but valiant fight with stage 4 cancer. His life; however, was defined by how he lived. Born in Pecos, TX, and raised both there and in Barstow, TX, he graduated as a proud eagle from Pecos High School in 1965. Annually, since 1965, he and a group of classmates gathered — a testament to his desire to cultivate strong and steady friendships.

Hard work was the cornerstone of his life. At the tender age of 12 he began his first job as a soda jerk at Foster’s, followed by cleaning business offices at night, and working as a sport reporter for the Pecos Enterprise. And, he’s one of select few boys in history who earned Eagle Scout at age 12, days before he turned 13!

Bill graduated from West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M) in 1969 with a B.A. in commercial art and a minor in chemistry. Bill was active in Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, ROTC and was a Distinguished Military graduate. He entered the US Army after graduation, went to Airborne School and settled in Air Defense Artillery. He went to Vietnam in June of 1970 and returned a year later, having progressed to second lieutenant, then first lieutenant and finally to captain on July 10, 1971, which coincided with his wedding date to Debbie.

After their wedding, Bill and Debbie lived in El Paso for six months while he was stationed at Fort Bliss as the chief burial officer. He left the US Army in 1972 and they moved to Perryton, TX, so he could enter into the construction business with Debbie’s dad. As soon as his father-in-law, Jack, saw how well Bill drew renderings, he was sold. What nobody realized was just how well Bill could SELL. And, sell he did – all kinds of metal buildings for farmers and businesses. He was active in the Jaycees and the First United Methodist Church, where he and Debbie were married.

In 1975, they moved to Dumas, TX, to grow the construction business, eventually buying Traeco Building Systems and running it successfully. He was an active member of the Dumas Noon Lions Club and three different churches, the First Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene and the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

A decade later, in 1985, Bill and Debbie closed his construction company and he joined A&S Steel Buildings in Amarillo, TX as a salesman and helped expand the company by building privatized prisons throughout the United States. He then traveled extensively to Florida building prisons for Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. In 1999, Bill and his wife moved to Florida and he began work as the vice president of Worldwide Construction for Wackenhut Corrections (now The GEO Group). He oversaw the construction of prisons in the US, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Puerto Rico, and South America.

In 2001, Bill was offered a position with White Construction Company in Austin and jumped at the chance to return to Texas. He was named the vice president of pre-construction (business development) and was responsible for all activities that occur prior to signing a construction contract. He was the happiest he’d ever been at WCC, working with contractors and colleagues he had known for well over 40 years.

Bill “retired” in 2017, only to begin a construction consulting business.

In addition to finding great professional success, Bill flourished in his faith after participating in an ACTS Retreat, held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in San Antonio. He went as a favor to a business associate, not knowing how it would change the trajectory of his life. Shortly after he attended, so did Debbie and they both made the decision to join the church. On March 30, 2013, they were fully received into the Catholic Church at St. Louis King of France. They were active parishioners, and Bill participated, co-directed and directed numerous ACTS retreats — he loved this amazing ministry. Bill was also the current chair of the church’s building committee. He and his wife were also members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, supporting the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.

Bill took inspiration from his two most important mentors — his father-in-law, Jack, and former boss, Bill Attebury — to mentor hundreds more men and women in the construction industry. For Bill, it was never about the “deal,” but about the people. He touched countless lives in unimaginable ways through his professional associations: American Correctional Association, Real Estate Council of Austin Board, Urban Land Institute, American Seniors Housing Association, LeadingAge, and the Society for Marketing Professional Services.

But above it all, it was his family Bill loved the most. He and his wife Debbie were married 49 years and they had two children, Kathryn and Daniel, who blessed them with ten grandchildren. He rarely missed a sporting event, birthday, sacramental celebration or holiday with them. His proudest title was, undoubtedly, “Papa.”

Bill thought every food item should be eaten with Tabasco sauce! He loved playing golf, drinking martinis and manhattans, watching sports (Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Texas Aggies and Florida Gators), eating Mexican and spicy Thai food, teasing everyone, watching Hallmark movies, and cooking a mean filet on the stove finished off in the oven. He just loved helping and being with people and hospitality was his charism.

Bill is survived by his wife, Debbie; his daughter and her husband, Scott and Kathryn Whitaker and their six children (Will, John Paul, Anna-Laura, Clare, Luke and Gianna Whitaker); his son and his wife, Daniel and Amanda Farnum and their four children (Ava, Jack, Mary Grace and Mia); three siblings, Mary Lou Farnum of Amarillo, Ava Howard of Abilene and Dee Farnum of El Paso; numerous in-laws, plus many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Following masking and social distancing guidelines, a visitation and rosary will be held on Monday, January 11, 2021, at 5:00 p.m., with rosary at 6:00 p.m., at Cook Walden Funeral Home located at 6100 N. Lamar, Austin.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church, located at, 7601 Burnet Rd., Austin, with Rev. Larry Covington presiding and the following priests concelebrating: Rev. Jared Cooke, Rev. Pedro Garcia, Rev. Jesse Martinez, Rev. James Misko, Rev. Tom Reitmeyer, Rev. Bud Roland, Rev. Will Rooney and with Most Rev. Joe S. Vasquez, Bishop of Austin, sitting in choir.

Memorial donations may be made to the ACTS Missions (actsmissions.org) or to the Texas 4-H Foundation (texas4hfoundation.org).

To livestream the funeral Mass, use this link: https://youtu.be/KrEWqmwheT8. It's an unlisted link on YouTube, so you'll need this link and a device with access to the Internet. No log on or social media account is needed to view it.