William C. French III

His father was an executive with U.S. Steel, and the family moved often during Bill’s childhood. He spent time in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Pennsylvania. Bill was in high school when his family moved to Houston and attended Memorial Senior High School. When his father was transferred to Pittsburgh, Bill successfully lobbied his parents to remain in Houston with family friends until after he graduated in 1967. He often told native Texans: “It’s easy to be born here. It takes guts to homestead.”

Bill attended Westminster College, an all-male liberal arts university in Fulton, Missouri. He studied psychology and chemistry and was active in student government and intramural sports. He was interested in medicine and spent summers working in the laboratory at Houston’s Hermann Hospital. This is where he met his wife, Jane Jones French. In the chemistry lab, she chimed in on a Tom Lehrer song he had started singing, and they immediately made a tennis date. The two were married in 1972.

The couple settled in Houston, and Bill began a career in the emerging laboratory medical instrumentation field. He worked for the Hycel Corporation doing research development and spent a few years in Denver as a project manager in the cardiovascular division of Cobe, Inc. He also attended the University of Houston in the evenings and earned his MBA in 1975. He liked to say that he was educated beyond his intelligence.

In 1990, Bill decided to leave the corporate world to become a teacher. His first position was as a special education teacher at Cleveland High School. He eventually switched to teaching science and math and was the school’s science department chair for several years. Bill then pursued his administrator’s certificate and worked as Cleveland ISD’s director of transportation. He loved this job because it united his business background with his desire to serve students and their families. Bill also taught at New Caney and Humble high schools before retiring in 2010.

Outside of work, Bill’s activities included serving on the Forest Cove Property Owner’s Association board and helping out with his daughter’s sports teams. He was a Kingwood soccer referee and a swim meet official and board member for the Forest Cove Fightin’ Frogs swim team. Personally, he loved to swim and, in his younger years, play baseball, tennis and golf. He was an Astros fan until the team joined the American League. He had no use for the designated hitter.

Bill was known for his acerbic wit and tell-it-like-it-is outlook on life. He read every word of the newspaper every day and had an opinion on everything. He loved good food and wine, rock n’ roll and jokes of any kind.

He is survived by his wife, Jan; his daughter, Marijane French Leonard, and her husband, Brian Leonard; two grandchildren, Elizabeth Jane and Tyler Edward Leonard; and his sister, Wyllie Keefer.

A service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at Kingwood Funeral Home, 22800 Highway 59 N, Kingwood, TX 77339. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Altus Hospice, the American Kidney Fund, the American Diabetes Association or the charity of your choice.