William Gene Caudle

To Bill, the most important parts of life were to be a good husband, father, and church priesthood member. But, there was so much more to Bill.

As a young man, he enlisted in the Air Force, where he met the love of his life, Lillian Mary Smith, who was also in the Air Force. They were married on August 16, 1953 at Mather Air Force Base, California.

Upon exiting the service, his vocation “landed” him as an Air Traffic Control Tower Operator and for most of his career he worked at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. He had a wish to one day become a pilot, and started flight training, but with his growing family and responsibilities, that dream was never fully realized.

Bill was active in scouts with his son, and every Saturday for many years he drove his daughter to piano lessons nearly an hour away from home. He would “taxi” and participate in all of the kids church youth activities.

As a Civil Service employee, he was entitled to 30 days of vacation per year, which he would lovingly save. This time-off would be used all at once on family vacations. There would be countless thousands of miles of driving over the course of his lifetime, and he, along with his wife Lillian made sure that these trips provided not only a fun experience but gave his children a view of life in other places in the United States and made sure that they had a firm understanding of American history, and what made our country great.

As a multi-generational member of the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), Bill gave his children a most wonderful gift. He believed that church heritage and family were most important and made sure the family was at church most Sundays and Wednesday evenings. In 1968, he was called to be ordained to the Priesthood in the office of Deacon. One of his jobs that he took especially seriously was setting up the Communion emblems. The linens had to be clean, pressed and extra white. The crease in the fabric had to line up exactly with the edge of the table and Bill made sure of this by repeatedly walking from the back of the church to the front, to check and re-check the alignment until he was satisfied.

At all stages of his life, Bill could be found in service to his fellow man whenever and wherever he could. It was very common for him to find a broken bike or chair sitting at the end of someone’s driveway for disposal. Where others saw only garbage, Bill would see opportunity, and would take the item home, fix it up and give it away to someone who needed it.

As he came into his twilight years, Bill’s pace slowed some, but his passion for service never waned. He spent many happy Thursdays at the church’s soup kitchen, feeding the hungry and sitting and talking at length with the guests. He also made it his personal responsibility to make sure every pot, pan, and utensil was hand-washed.

William is survived by his loving bride of 63 years, Lillian, daughter Wendy (Jeff) Werner, son William Jr., brother Robert (Joyce) Caudle of Fairfield Illinois, grandson Joshua (Jill) Ford, granddaughter Melissa (Joseph) Lewis, and several great grandchildren. He is further survived by multiple cousins, and church friends and family at multiple congregations of the Community of Christ, including Brush Creek, Illinois, Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida, and Crestview, Florida.

A celebration of Bill’s life was held on April 1, 2017 at Community of Christ, Crestview, Florida. Final arrangements were entrusted to the National Cremation Society. In lieu of flowers, Bill asked that donations be made to the Community of Christ’s Soup Kitchen outreach. These may be sent C/O his daughter, Wendy Werner, PO Box 1175, Niceville, FL 32588

Arrangements under the direction of National Cremation & Burial Society, Milton, FL.