He was born on Aug. 31, 1930 in Brunswick to William B. and Evelyn Brannan of Darien. He grew up in Darien in the two homes at the corner of Second Street West, where he played with his friends jumping off the Darien River Bridge when it was being built, running across the rooftops of the buildings in downtown Darien, and catching catfish and eels up and down the waterfront in front of the old Ploeger building. He delivered the Savannah Evening Press on his bicycle after school.
He was a graduate of Darien High School Class of 1947 and attended Georgia Military College for two years, before enlisting in the U.S. Navy.
Half of his lifetime was spent on the oceans, with five years in the U.S. Navy as an engineman on two submarines and 35 years on a shrimp trawler.
He married Gail E. Hawkins in 1966, and they were married 40 years, until she passed away in 2006.
He is survived by three children, Kim (Ricky) Boone of Hird Island, Pat (Jessie) Brannan of Ashantilly, and Rhea (Marty) Witthoft of Tolomato; grandchildren, Little Ricky Boone, William Boone, Chelsea Boone, Lucy Younce, Chrystal Brannan, Patrick Hunter Brannan, Jesse Witthoft and Chandler Spurlock; and great-grandchildren, Saylor Aubrey Boone, Cooper Lee, Sailina Younce, Stella Younce, Jasper Witthoft, Ruby Witthoft and Hudson Spurlock.
Visitation will be Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 5PM, followed by a memorial service at 6PM at Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home.
At his request, Gail's and his ashes will be scattered by his family and friends from a family shrimp boat on a pretty day offshore in the Atlantic off Cabretta, Sapelo or Wolf Island (Graveyard)--his favorite shrimp-dragging holes. He wrote in 2015, "William and Gail will be together again. Remember us."
Edo Miller Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. www.edomillerandsons.com
