William L. Bill Hart, an Air Force veteran, retired law enforcement officer and distinguished state and national Elks fraternal leader, died Wednesday, September 18, 2013, at his home in Manchaca after a courageous battle with cancer. He was just shy of his 67th birthday on October 21 and he and his wife Ceil had just observed their 32nd wedding anniversary on July 18.
Visitation will be held Sunday from 4 to 6 pm. at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 South Congress Avenue. Funeral Services 10:00 am Monday, September 23, at Weed Corley Fish Chapel. Interment will follow at Live Oak Cemetery in Manchaca.
Besides Ceil, Bill is survived by his daughter, Francine Hart of Dallas; brother, Dan Hart of Austin; sister, Jan Watkins and Eugene of Temple; brother-in-law Bob Klevenhagen and Maureen of New Braunfels; sister-in-law Mary Scott and Ray of College Station; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jean and Ralph Hart and William A. Lilly; and sister Susan Jacks.
After graduating from Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas, Bill attended Navarro College in Corsicana on a baseball scholarship but left school in 1967 to serve a four-year hitch in the Air Force. He left the service as a sergeant at the former Bergstrom AFB in Austin. He would later continue his education with courses at Central Texas College in Austin.
Bill started his law enforcement career as one of the original 10 airport police officers at Austin's former Mueller Airport in 1970. After that his career included service as a lieutenant in the Travis County Sheriff's Office, investigator in the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney's Office, and investigator positions with the Comptroller's Office, the Texas Lottery Commission and the Attorney General's Office. He was a past president of both the Texas Capital Area Law Enforcement Association and the Texas Law Enforcement Intelligence Units Association.
In 1986 Bill graduated from the 144th Session of the FBI Academy and it was always his pride and joy that he and Ceil were the first married couple from Texas to both be Academy graduates when Ceil graduated from the 156th Session in 1989 while an Austin city police officer.
Bill's long service in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks began in 1991 in Austin Lodge #201. He advanced from president of the Austin Lodge through the leadership ranks of both Texas Elkdom and Grand Lodge positions to become State President of the Texas Elks State Association in 1998-99. He then served eight years as a national committeeman. His last position was as a Grand Lodge officer, Grand Esquire, in 2011-12 when the national convention was held in Austin for the first time ever, thanks primarily to Bill's painstaking work in convincing the national organization that the convention should come here.
Memorial contributions would fittingly honor Bill's long devotion to the Texas Elks Childrens Services, 1962 FM 1586, Gonzales, TX 78629, to further Texas Elks programs of providing prosthetic devices for needy children and summer camp where "being different doesn't make a difference" for special needs children.
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