William Paul McQueen

William P. McQueen passed away peacefully on April 14, 2020, at the age of 88. Born on January 22, 1932 in Trinity County, Texas at the height of the Great Depression, William (known as “Paul” to his family) grew up working hard, side by side with this brothers and sisters, to help his family survive as his father travelled for work during those hard times. He graduated from Pennington High School in 1950 and was soon drafted into the Army during the Korean War. The war ended just as William was finishing basic training and he found himself stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, working at the White Sands Proving Grounds as a crane operator. He was proud of his contribution to the beginning of America’s missile program and often talked about loading missiles into their firing racks with his crane and watching the launches.

After leaving the Army and returning home, he soon met his lifelong love, Nina Jo Allee, from Austonio, Texas, marrying in November 1955 and moving to Houston to start their life together. William and Nina both began working at Houston, Lighting & Power Co. in 1956, he as a truck driver and she as a clerk in the Magnolia Park service center. William would go on to build a 37-year career at HL&P as an electrician, eventually managing the substation transformer cooling oil operation for all of the system’s dozens of substations throughout the service area. In 1967, William was injured in a horrific industrial accident that sent 69,000 volts of electricity through is body, but he survived after 2 months in the hospital and went on to have a long career as a loyal and dedicated HL&P employee. In the 1970s he developed processes and procedures for maintaining transformers that were considered industry-wide best practice.

William and Nina moved to Pasadena, Texas from Houston in 1956, buying one of the first houses built in the Red Bluff Terrace subdivision, and back when much of Pasadena was still farmland and fields. They welcomed the birth of their only child, Bill (William, Jr.), in 1967. Soon afterward, in 1971, the family moved to Parkview Manor, where they would go on to build dear and lifelong friendships with their neighbors on Peach Lane.

The overriding theme of William’s life was hard work. He was meticulous with how he cared for his house and yard and gardening became one of his passions. He also loved to hunt and fish all through his life, sharing that love with his son on many memorable fishing trips to Galveston Bay and on lakes and ponds throughout Texas. William also was an accomplished mechanic and enjoyed doing his own vehicle maintenance, repairs and classic car restorations with his son.

One of William’s proudest achievements was ensuring that his son, Bill, excel in school and earn a college education. He never wavered from this commitment, supporting Bill’s educational pursuits through their completion.

William was preceded in death by his wife, Nina, his parents, Cary and Pearl McQueen; his brothers, C.W., Jr. and Henry Earl; sisters, Lillian Anderson Paduh, Lucille Jones Land and Mary Alice McQueen; and numerous other family members and friends over the years. He is survived by his son, William P. McQueen, Jr., and daughter-in-law, Teresa McQueen, who live in Concord, CA, and many nieces and nephews throughout Texas.

William was a loving, kind and devoted father, husband and friend throughout his life and he will be missed by everyone who knew him. On behalf of William, his family would like to thank the nurses and staff at Courtyards of Pasadena and Traditions Hospice for their loving care.

With much regret, but in light of current shelter-in-place restrictions, there will be no visitation or in-person services for William’s funeral. Instead, there will be a virtual graveside service at 1pm (Central Time) on Tuesday, April 21 that will be broadcast over Facebook. To attend the virtual services please navigate to the Grand View Funeral Home and Memorial Park/Bethany Cemetery Facebook page and search for the service for William McQueen.