William T. Lanham

William (Bill) Thomas Lanham was born on September 11, 1931 in Lebanon, Kentucky. He was the oldest of 10 brothers and sisters. He was raised in Crab Orchard, KY where as a teenager, he accepted the Lord as his personal savior. He went to Crab Orchard High School where he played on the basket ball team and began his love of playing billards (pool). When he graduated high school he joined the US Navy in 1952,where he served our country for 20 years.During his term of service in the Navy, he was in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.His rank was an E-6 and he was a cook aboard a destoyer ship that he was on where they fed 3,000 service men.He met his wife Kathy in 1952, after her writing to her servicemen at the request of his mother. They wrote for over a year and they had never met face to face prior to this and they began dating and eventually got married on February 10, 1955. Bill and Kathy have been married for 55 years and have two daughters Kathy and Laura. When Bill retired from the Navy on June 17, 1971, he moved the family to Orlando,Florida from Chula Vista, California. He began working for the Orange County School system as a janitor and then went on to be a driver and warehouseman where he retired after 22 years. On May 25, 1995, his daughter Laura had their grandson Sean and he loved taking him to watch the Spurs play basketball and spend time with him collecting shells. Bill was such a loving person never meeting a stanger and was always so kind and friendly. He loved to watch sports and watch the services every Sunday from First Baptist Church of Orlando on TV and during the holidays we would go to see the singing Chritmas Trees. He loved to go out to eat almost every Sunday night at his favorite restaurant The Olive Garden.He loved to play billiards and share his gift of gab and his great sense of humor with his friends at the Senior Center and with anyone else that wanted to listen. All of his family and friends will miss his smiling face and his warm heart dearly, because we all loved him and look forward to seeing him on the other side with our Lord and Savior. A visitation will be held on Thursday December 23, 2010 from 6-8pm at Woodlawn Funeral Home in Gotha. A funeral service will be held on Friday December 24, 2010 at 12:00 noon at the funeral home. Arrangements entrusted to Woodlawn Memorial Park & Funeral Home. Condolences may be offered at www.woodlawnfuneralhomegotha.com