William Robert E. King, age 68, of De Soto, Kansas, died July 24, 2017. Bill was born in 1949 in Kansas City, Kansas to Herbert C. King and Patricia Joann Brown-Tomlinson. He was raised in the Kansas City area and graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1967. He married Joan A. Harris in Kansas City, Kansas, in Dec. 1972.
In 1967, he joined the Navy, after boot-camp and Basic Electricity and Electronics (BEE) schooling, and 13 weeks of Radioman school he was sent to Vietnam. He served 3 months at the White Elephant communication center in DaNang, then volunteered for top-secret operations down in III Corp., 9 months in operation Duffle Bag, along the Angles Wing and Parrots Beak. Fire base camp was in Tra Cu, Vietnam (Southern area). After a 30-day leave he got ordered to go to Kodiak Island, Alaska, then to Point Barrow, Alaska inside the Arctic Circle where he spied on the Russians. He finished his Navy duties on the USS Bauer DE stationed out of San Diego and was Honorably discharged in 1971.
Bill entered the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) as an apprentice in 1971. He graduated in 1975 as an inside Journeymen Wireman for IBEW Local #124 in Kansas City, MO. He was employed as a journeyman electrician for many electrical shops in Kansas City and many other states.
He retired in 2001. Bill is survived by his wife, Joan A. King; son, Micky King and wife Elisha; and daughters, Kristy King and Wendy King. Bill had 7 grandchildren, Joshua King and Andy King of Colorado, Joey King, Steven Lawrence, Shyann King, Kerstin Weast and Kayla Weast; four great grandchildren, Bentley King, Corbin King, and Eva May King; sister-in-laws, Kelli Carney and husband Jessie, Charlene Lundsford and husband Paul, and Marie Watts; and many nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
Visitation will be from 6-9 PM, Friday, July 28, 2017 at Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home, 701 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kansas 66112. A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, July 29, 2017 also at Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home. Interment will be immediately following at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.
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