Billy "Bill" Thurman Mousner

“Bill” (Billy Thurman) Mousner, 83 years of age, a resident of Richardson, Texas since 1967, went to heaven, May 5, 2012 after a long fight with cancer. He was born at Wapanucka, Oklahoma, October 3, 1928, and graduated from Wapanucka High School before joining the Air Force and marrying his high school sweetheart (Lee Joyce Cox).

He joined the Air Force at the age of 18 in 1946. In his first tour of duty, he had obtained the rank of Master Sergeant, in which, this was the highest enlisted rank at that time in the United States military. This made Bill the youngest Master Sergeant in the Air Force while still in his early twenties. He was initially a communications specialist and then later became a Warrant Officer and personnel officer. Bill went from being a Master Sergeant to Chief Warrant Officer 2 (skipping the rank of Warrant Officer) with less than eight years in the Air Force. He spent sometime assigned as a personnel officer in lieu of communications officer after becoming a Warrant Officer and spent a total of twenty-one years in the Air Force, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 in 1967. He had overseas tours in Japan and Germany. All the while, his devoted wife Lee Joyce was the perfect Air Force wife.

Bill enjoyed hunting and fishing. Although he hunted elk, deer, and birds, he liked fishing the most. Bill was an avid fisherman, in which, he shared this love with his two grandsons Michael and Craig over the years. He took his two grandsons from the early age of 5 through their mid teenage years each summer on trips that always included fishing. They often ended up in Colorado visiting Bill’s two brothers and their family. Craig and Michael reciprocated by taking their grandfather fishing for his 80th birthday to Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado a place the boys had been many times in their childhood with their Papaw. The following year the three of them made the annual Canada fishing trip that Bill had made for approximately twenty-five years. Bill had many fishing buddies over the years and just to mention a few of the long-term ones: Paul Alexander, Eddie Ezell, Glen McCleskey, Pete Keith, Don Hagler, Kent Arceri, and Richard Tarlton.

He played baseball and basketball from his teenage years to adulthood. Even after leaving the Air Force and working in the business world, he pitched for his softball team. He was an excellent golfer and relished playing for many years. In his senior years, he still liked watching golf and basketball on television.

Bill married Lee Joyce Cox after High School at the age of 18 and were married for 65 years. He is survived by his beloved wife, daughter Nancy Glandon and her husband Mark Glandon of Richardson, Texas; daughter Patricia Mousner of Plano, Texas; grandson Michael Glandon and his wife Kiyeon Glandon and great granddaughter Kiara Glandon of Sierra Vista, Arizona (Kiara called him Big Papa); grandson Craig Bradley and his wife Alexa Bradley of Castle Rock, Colorado; sister Sue Jones of Wapanucka, Oklahoma; brother Stan Mousner and his wife Jo Mousner of Olathe, Colorado; brother Johnny Mousner of Olathe, Colorado and sister-in-law Ann Mousner of Murrieta, CA; and sister Carol Featherson of Hico, Texas. He was preceded in death by his father Thurman Mousner, mother Hassie Mousner, and sister Nanette Mousner. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his name to, Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center, 1700 Pacific Ave #1100, Dallas, TX 75201 or by website at www.marycrowley.org