William Fountain Lyon Jr

William Fountain Lyon, Jr., 90, is now in the hands of the Lord. He went home on July 4, 2018. Bill was born to William Fountain Lyon, Sr. and Mildred Francis (Bowles) Lyon on August 28, 1927 in Dallas, Texas.

Billy, as he was known in his younger years, played football for the Mansfield High School Tigers as a running back. He was a good student and an amazing speller. He won numerous spelling bees, was an Interscholastic Speller, and was the Salutatorian of his graduating class. While in high school, Bill joined the Texas State Guard, providing armed security at TCU football games.

On May 8, 1945, at the age of 17, he joined the United States Coast Guard to join the war effort during WWII. He trained in San Francisco as well as Avalon, Catalina Island, California then shipped out of Portland, Oregon on his first voyage bound for the Philippines. After the war, Bill remained in the Merchant Maritime Service working on cargo vessels and eventually oil tankers completing voyages circumnavigating the globe three times during his deployments. He told many great stories of passing through the Suez and Panama Canals, running aground in the English Channel and being dry docked in Liverpool, England for several months, as well as relaying fond memories of Port Perry and Adelaide, Australia.

After his service to our country, in 1949, Bill came home to Texas and worked in the refining industry and later began working in construction, later founding Lyon Inc., General Contractors, with his brother Don in the early 1960s. For over 40 years, Bill contributed to his community through building and remodeling homes and buildings. He is especially remembered for the work he did to help families get into their own homes, for example, by letting them work and remodel in lieu of cash for down payments. He helped people in so many ways… always giving of his time and effort to help others.

Bill was a 50-year member of the Lions Club and was President of the Southeast Fort Worth Lions Club for many years. He was especially devoted to the Lions Club Sight Programs for the prevention of blindness and the recycling of eye glasses. Bill was also a member of the Scottish Rite, a 32nd degree Mason, and a member of the Shriners.

Family was important to Bill. He was never without pictures or stories to share about how proud he was of his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even his one great, great grandchild! Bill really never met a stranger and would eagerly talk to anyone as long or perhaps even a bit longer than they would let him. In his later years, he enjoyed traveling to San Diego by train to visit his son which afforded much time to meet people and talk while traveling. Christmas and Thanksgiving were highlights, where spending time with family and watching the Dallas Cowboys play gave him much joy. He also loved to work on cars and was always tinkering with one vehicle or another. Everyone always said, there wasn’t a car built that he couldn’t fix or get to run.

Bill was a talented guitarist and also enjoyed playing piano. He played in bands or just with friends from the 1950s on, most famously as a member of the Texas Twisters – the opening act for Elvis when he first performed in Dallas. The Twisters cut several “33LP” records in their heyday. He also played bugle and trumpet from the time he was in the Boy Scouts to the Merchant Marines to his later years as a member of the Shriners Drum and Bugle Corps. In fact, he had the nick name “Hot Lips” when he met the love of his life, Emma. Emma Benavides and Bill met at a dance at the YMCA in the summer of 1959. They married in October of 1961 spending nearly 58 years loving one another.

Bill is preceded in death by his parents and brother Donald. Bill will be missed by his wife Emma, daughter Debra (Lyon) Cox and her husband Gary, son William Fountain Lyon, III and his wife Heidi, sisters-in-law Dolores Lyon and Ann Pearce, brother-in-law Roy Benavides, grandson Billy Jack Cox and his wife Marci, grandson William Fountaine Lyon IV, granddaughter Jeri Jo Long and her husband Tobin, great granddaughter Rachel Carnes and her husband Christian, great granddaughters Lauren and Emma Cox, great-great granddaughter Mia Carnes, and many, many nieces and nephews.