Bill Crockett, 80, of Waco, passed away Sunday, November 13, 2011 at a local hospital. Funeral services will be 10AM Wednesday, November 16th at Lake Shore Funeral Home Chapel with Minister Leslie Jones officiating. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Elk. Visitation will be 6 to 8PM Tuesday, November 15th at Lake Shore Funeral Home, 5201 Steinbeck Bend in Waco. Thoughts and memories may be shared in the online Guest Book at www.LakeShoreFuneralHome.com.
William Kenneth Crockett was born November 2, 1931 in Bonham to John Marshall and Lottie Elizabeth (Kennedy) Crockett and graduated from Bonham High School in 1949. He attended Rice University from 1949-1953 and played football for the Rice Owls, including being co-captain his senior year, receiving honors such as Blue-Gray Game in Alabama, All Southwest Conference. Bill was drafted to play professional football, but was also drafted by
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I will always remember Coach Crockett on the football field and having him as my teacher. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
So sad to hear of Uncle Bud’s illness and passing. Thinking of all of you, and remembering many happy family holidays. Wish I could be there.
Kenny,
Sorry to hear of the passing of your dad. He was a good man. He will be missed.
Brad
Betty and family,
We are so sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you in these times. Bill was such a great guy and always was joking around. I don’t remember ever seeing him without a smile on his face. He was a great man.
Kris, I am so sorry to hear about your father. I know how much your family means to you and how important you all are to each other. May you continue to support and comfort each other as you share your wonderful memories.
Mr. Crockett was a big influence on my teaching career. He was the one who first suggested that I work towards earning a Master’s degree. Mr. Crockett never failed to be encouraging and appreciative of what I did as a teacher.
My love and prayers go out to you, Mrs. Crockett.
Dear Betty and Family,
I am so sorry for your loss.
Coach Crockett’s life, through his career as coach,teacher, and administer touched the lives of so many young people(not so young any more).I know he will be greatly missed. My personal experience at Connally High School in the ’60s would not have been the same without him. I am blessed to have had his influence on my life.
He is most known at my house for as the man who taught me to drive and since I taught my girls to drive, his legacy lives on. See, I am an "excellent driver", just ask my Mom. I have great memories of football, basketball and bus trips many of which include Coach Crockett. I was blessed to have had him in my life. Thank you for letting me share these memories.
Gods blessings on you all.
Charlotte Garza Taylor
I am so sorry for your loss. Mr. Crockett made a difference in my life, as he did with 1000s of others. The good that he did will live on, I hope that brings some comfort. My thoughts are with all the family.
Our thoughts are with all of you. Uncle Buddy will be a man missed by many. Our memories of growing up and being together will always be treasured. Love, Tink
Mr Crockett was an amazing man and did so much for Axtell. He will be truly missed. Prayers to his family and friends. "Onward Axtell…".
Mrs. Crockett & Family
I pray you will find peace strenght and comfort in our Lord during this time. I would also like to thank you for the chance to take care of and meet the beloved Mr. Crockett.I had heard many stories about him for 23 years through Glenn, now I understand his love for your family. It was a HONOR to be able to care for "Coach" during his last days and for this I say "Thank you for sharing him with me". His mansion is complete now so the Lord loved Coach more than us and called Coach home. My prayers are always with you.
Love in Christ,
Felicia Smith Danforth
Oak Unit
Bill Crockett was always kind to me and my family. I will always remember his with great affection and humor. I will always have my Crockett stories and will tell them with love for a man that I looked up to.
My thoughts are prayers are with his family.
For those of us who played football for Bill Crockett back in the 60’s there is much we could tell. At the time it seemed so hard, especially two-a-days in the hot Texas sun, or when we lost a football game we should have won. Today it is a very fond memory of a man, a coach, and a friend who knew more than we did. He knew the harder he was on us and the higher his expectations the better players we would be and someday be better men because of it. We all did a lot of growing up at the feet of Bill Crockett. And it was not just football players, my wife Donna, could tell you about the year he coached the high school girls basketball team, and many of us were taught how to drive by Bill Crockett, our driver’s education instructor. He was the bus driver on our senior trip, the class of ’69 had a special connection to him, it would not have been the same without Uncle Bill along. The memories are many.
Because of relationships through Church and my wife’s family Bill went from coach to friend. I think I can still remember the first time I called him Bill instead of Coach Crockett. He was at our wedding and he and Betty were present the day I retired form the Air Force. It meant a lot to me to have him there. But, that was just the kind of man he was.
I hope as the family reads this it conveys the admiration, respect, and love so many of us have for Bill Crockett. He will be missed but not forgotten.
Gary Praesel
Heaven Awaits A Great Man
I sit here with tears in my eyes knowing that I have lost a man that I truly loved.
Where would I be today with out this man’s guidense! Yes,I played football for him but I am not talking about x’s and o’s. I refer to the times that this great man saved a kid who could have gone either way in life and always put me on the right track in life.I was not like some in high school who were blessed with talent but Bill treated me like I could be someone one day and instilled a desire in me to make something out of myself.For his guidence and care I will always hold a special place in my heart and just wished I had thanked him for all the great things he did for me. He truly was like a Dad to me.
George Kilgo
Mrs. Crockett and Family,
So sorry to hear about your loss. He truly influenced and touched so many. He will be missed.
With Love,
Gordon Burrow
My thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. May your memories bring you comfort.
My thoughts and prayers are with you in your time of grief. May your memories bring you comfort.
Dear Crockett family,
Thoughts and prayers are with you all during this sad time. We regret we could not pay our respect in person but send our deepest sympathy to all of you. Mr. Crockett leaves behind a tremendous legacy which no doubt will be carried on through the rest of the Crockett family. We are very fortunate to have known such a wonderful person. God Bless You All,
Janna & Robert Cannon
Connally High School 1977 & 1978
Dear Betty & Family,
We were so sorry to hear about your loss. We pray that God will give you strength and peace for the days ahead.
Bill Crockett was a fine man and a good friend. We enjoyed working under him; he always supported his teachers completely, which is rare today. We have many fond memories of him and of our years at Axtell.
We will make every effort to be at the funeral so that we can offer our condolences in person.
With our love,
Charlee & Jeannine
Hambrick
I’ll never forget Mr. Crockett’s bravery and patience in teaching driver’s ed. He was truly a good man who had an impact on many lives. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Crockett family during this difficult time.
Wonderful Person
I taught at Connally High School when Bill was the head football coach. Bill was fun to owrk with. He had a great sense of humor and was respected by everyone.
Joe Ferrell
Bill Crockett was an awesome individual. He always treated the students with respect. He will be missed greatly.
Mr Crockett was a man of integrity and someone I looked up to. He always was there to help when I worked at Axtell School and he will be missed. My prayers are with you Betty and the rest of the family.
Great mentor to me, and a wonderful example of a Christian man, husband, father. (Loved him even when he was telling me not to come back to school without shaving.)
I am so sorry to hear of Mr. Crockett’s passing. He will be missed greatly. I definitely grew up knowing him – first as principal at Connally and then superintendant at Axtell after I moved there. I will always remember his smile and laugh. One of my fondest memories is when I was in his drivers ed class…since he had known me most of my life he said it was hard for him to think of me driving…so he had a hard time staying off the brake on his side. It also made me feel special that he remembered me though, with all the kids that he had known. Rest in peace Mr. Crockett…We will miss you.
Sending prayers and hugs to the Crockett family in their time of grief….he was a great man and will be missed by so many. RIP Mr Crockett
Betty and children, Buddy was always one of my heroes, and was one of my Dad’s and Bobby’s favorites.So sorry for your loss.
My prayers go out to the Crockett family. Mr. Crockett put up with me longer than most when I was going through my rebellious teenage years. God Bless you Mr. Crockett.
My prayers go out to the family. Sorry for the lost. He will be most greatly missed.
When my family first moved to the Axtell community in the early nineties, Mr. Crockett was the first person we met. He was always so nice to us and really cared about all the students at Axtell. He will be missed by many.
My prayer go up requesting comfort and peace at heart for you, Mrs Crockett. I remember both of you as being wonderful people.
We are sorry for your loss.
Our deepest sympathy. May god be with you during this hard time.
My thoughts and prayers go out to yall… It was good seeing you all at Texas Roadhouse. Please let Becky know that we are thinking of yall during this difficult time! He was a GREAT man and will never be forgotten!! Love you all… Missy, Donald and Ronald
Im so very sorry to hear about Uncle Buddy passing, You all are in our thoughts and prayers.
Dear Betty and Family, Like many others, I will miss Bill so much. He was so much fun and kind and caring. My Mac always said that Bill was one of the 5 men that he could call to come and help him and Bill would never ask why, but Bill would always be there for him. Such a loyal man/friend.
Bill and I and Charlotte shared November birthdays and I remember once that after a CHS football that you, Betty, had us come over for birthday cake and coffee. Such a nice memory.
I regret that I cannot be present during this time, but please know that my love, thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I emailed Linda and Carol that ‘Mr. Crockett’ had died. They have fond memories of him, too.
God be with each of you. Love, Rae
I am sorry for your loss. Mr. Crockett was truly one of my favorite educators at Connally ISD. He just loved helping kids. He had a tremendous influence on me and was an individual I greatly admired. He was one of those teachers that you always wanted to stop by and visit with,even years later. Just make sure you had that top button on your shirt fastened. A real genuine inspiration to the education field. Oh, what memories, thanks for your help Mr. Crockett. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. You will be dearly missed.
Our thoughts and prayers are with your family during the time. May God’s blessings help you through this difficult time.
My family have always held Mr. and Mrs. Crockett in the highest regard. My dad taught me to drive at age 9, but Mr. Crockett was my Driver’s Ed teacher. I will never forget us driving through the countryside and stopping at fruit stands to pick up fruit which he said he wanted to take home for Mrs. Crockett. I will also not forget having to take the Circle my first day in driving rain, or him offering to let me take my test in the Driver’s Ed car because he didn’t think I could parallel park in our car.
I promise you that everyone whose life he touched remembers him. Thank you for sharing him with us all these years.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all during this time. It was my privilege to know such a man as Bill. Thank you for the memories during my junior and high school years of knowing you and your family. You will always be in my heart. Love you all and God comfort you during this time. God Bless.
We are so blessed to know this wonderful man through his beautiful family. What a great legacy he is leaving. God has called him home to a prepared place and his is in his new body. Oh what joy he must be feeling to be in the very presence of GOD!
Our prayers are with you all as you continue your journey here and in the difficult days of adjustment. May God give you comfort beyond all understanding.
What a great man and what a wonderful life he lived. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Mrs. Crockett, Kenny, Kurtis, Kris and Becky, My thoughts and prayers are with all the Crocketts right now. I will never forget Coach Crockett and one of my fondest memories was when we were in Northcrest elementary when he taught us to play basketball and we would work out in the lunchroom running around all the tables and chairs and bouncing the balls and practicing free throws which he called "gimmies". RIP Coach.
Mr. Crockett was a good man and a good friend. I remember when he found a lost kindergartener wandering the high school hall ways. He took my by the hand and talked with me all the way back to my room. I remember looking way up at him and not feeling scared any more. That feeling lasted all the way to graduation. Rest in Peace Mr. Crockett. My prayers and condolences.
So Sorry for your loss.
Hello Cadasters;
Am so sorry to hear your loss… Betty is a wonderful person. I’m now 62 retired and full of memories of Connally. There was a student sitting behind me that was stabbing me in the back with a paper clip, yes it pissed me off and I back handed him. In his chair Lee screams out ” he hit me! ” and Bettie’s reply ” YOU ” probable had it coming, and told
him to sit there and be quite. I could’t beleive Mrs. Crockett stood up for me and to this day I still remember her, I saw
her just the other day at a devotional where she now resides, she is just a calm, beautiful and forth going as ever. In 1968 we left the Permian Basin, and the next year I was going to be a Permian Panther and the loss was over-whelming and with-drew from sports, for this Coach Crockett called me a ” Cull ” Am sorry he felt that way, I can say Bill was a man with much determination and no matter what he would follow thru with what ever event that came thru, may the good Lord give this man rest and peace even unto the end.