Bill was sickly as a child; the doctor said he would not reach the age of 21.1026 For years he took a tonic call Peruna. Until he became aged, he was always skinny. Nevertheless, girls were attracted to him. One in Luxora, Arkansas, during his early days in the Air Force looked very much like Ava Gardner, the actress. His comely personality evidently made up for his physical appearance.

During WWII he trained on the A-26, a low-flying, two-engine bomber. This plane did not see active duty, as the war ended before its being put into service. The gun was remotely controlled from inside the plane.

Bill re-entered SLI (now Southwestern State University) after WWII with an interest in psychology, but he quit to enter the dragline business with his dad and brother. This lasted only a short while, however, and he worked as a parts mangager first for the Ford agency then the Chevrolet agency in Troup. Finally, he was employed by the Troup post office, where he was a rural mail carrier for many years.

As an adult Bill became a professing Christian and remained faithful in the First Baptist Church of Troup, Texas, where he served many years as a deacon.

He was very close to his father and mother, stopping by their house every week-day afternoon after his mail run to have coffee with them. After his mother entered a Troup nursing home, he visited her there almost daily.