William Dwayne Tribble

William (Bill) Tribble was born in July 1930 in Brownfield, Texas, the third of four children. He lived his early years in Covington, and graduated from Wichita Falls High School at age 17. He immediately joined the Merchant Marines and sailed all over the world. He joined the Navy in 1956, taking part in the Navy’s Operation Deep Freeze 2 in 1955, traveling with Admiral Byrd to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. While a seaman, he visited ports on all seven continents.
Upon leaving the Navy in 1956, Bill enrolled at Texas Tech University to study mechanical engineering. He finished his degree at Southern Methodist University in 1959. While in Dallas, Bill met Evelyn Reich from Hamilton, Texas. They were married in December 1959. Bill became a Lutheran at that time.
As a licensed professional engineer, Bill worked for General Electric in upstate New York, where they had their first son, David. From there they moved to Villa Park, Illinois, where they had their second son, Mark. For a time, they lived in Louisiana and New Mexico, and eventually returned to Dallas, working for Collins Radio (now Rockwell), where they had their third son, Thomas. In 1974, they moved to Arlington, Texas, where Bill worked for Johnson & Johnson as plant engineer. Later, he worked for Texas A&M. He retired in 1992.
Throughout his life, Bill was active in the Lutheran Church, and served as steward at his children’s elementary school. He was also active with his sons in Boy Scouts. He held a life-long fascination for history and science, particularly astronomy and physics. He enjoyed doing puzzles, and fixing all things mechanical around the house.
He passed away peacefully in his sleep in February 2020, of natural causes. He is survived by Evelyn, his wife of 60 years; his three sons, David and his wife Katherine, Mark, and Thomas; and his three grandchildren, Summer, Nathan, and Jonathan.