Wilbur "Bill" Warren Mears

PANTEGO -- Wilbur Warren "Bill" Mears, recently of Pantego, TX, passed from this life on October 10, 2016 at the age of 93 in San Angelo, TX following a brief illness. Services: will be on Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at 1:30 pm at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery at 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, TX. Services are under the direction of Wade Family Funeral Home, Arlington, TX. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Sagecrest Alzheimer's Care Center, 438 E. Houston Harte Expressway, San Angelo, TX 76903. Bill was born on March 6, 1923 in Isla, TX to George Columbus "Lum" and Clara Hair Mears and was the youngest of six children. He graduated from Pineland (TX) High School in 1938 and began work for the Santa Fe Railway in Bronson, TX. Following the outbreak of World War II, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and served in the European Theater of Operations as a radio operator. Following the war, he returned to the Santa Fe Railway and continued a career which lasted over 40 years, working as station agent in Pitkin, LA, Winnie, TX, Sealy TX, Beaumont and Galveston and as Station Supervisor for the Plains Division of the Western Lines in Amarillo, where he retired in 1984. While working for the railroad, he earned a BBA degree in Accounting from Lamar Technological College (now Lamar University) in Beaumont in 1962. He married Katherine Louise Nolen on November 12,1948 and they were married for over 65 years until her death in 2014. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, and his two sisters and three brothers, Irene, Pauline, Lester, G.C., Jr., and Leo. Survivors: Bill is survived by his son, Philip Nolen Mears and his wife Suzanne of San Angelo, TX, his daughter, Laura Lynn Anderson and her husband Terry of Banner, WY, grandson Eric Warren Mears and his wife Melynda of Lewisville, TX, granddaughter Joy Lynn Sanzone and her husband Paul of Jersey City, NJ, grandson Dr. Robbie James Harris III, of Nashville, TN, grandson John Nolen Harris of Denver, CO, and great-grandchildren Jordan Andrew Mears and Elizabeth Joy Mears of Lewisville, TX. Bill was a man of a deep Christian faith who exemplified the virtues of integrity, strong character, hard work, and faithfulness to God and his family. He took great pride in the accomplishments of his children, grandchildren, and the future accomplishments of his great-grandchildren. Wade Family Funeral Home Arlington, 817-274-9233