Dr. Billy Bob Carmichael

On 9 July 2022, Dr. Billy Bob Carmichael of San Antonio, TX died at the age of 87, due to complications from Alzheimers. Known fondly as Bill to his friends and Dad, Grandpa Bill, Papa, and Uncle Bill to his family, he was born in 1935 on a farm near Hereford, in the Panhandle of Texas, to Pete and Wilma Carmichael, a farming family. He was the oldest of three children, Kenneth and Shari Jo, and a sister LaJuana who died in the first year of her life. Bill graduated from Hereford High School in 1953, where he was class president and played basketball. He then went on to study at West Texas State College (now WTAMU), followed by dental school at University of Texas at Houston.

Bill had a dental practice in the DFW area and later in San Antonio, before retiring to Canyon back in the Panhandle, where he felt most at home. He was a man of faith, and was a member most recently of the Canyon Methodist Church. He lived life to the fullest, being a serious amateur photographer, and earning his pilots license to fly small aircraft. Bill appreciated beauty, both in the natural world and in the arts. He loved the Palo Duro Canyon, and went there often throughout his life.

Bills humble background gave him a deep sense of human empathy. He believed that everyone should be treated with equality and dignity, and especially that all children should have access to good education in order to have a chance in life, evidenced by his contributions to various scholarship funds and educational organizations. It was personally important to him because he struggled with dyslexia, which was an unrecognized condition when he was a student.

Together with his first wife, Dorothy, he was the father of two daughters, Laura Carmichael and Priscilla Carmichael. Bill and Dorothy divorced in 1980. In 1987 he was married briefly to Mary Nell Echols. In 1990 he married Carole Sullivan, an old friend from dental school days, and became the step-father to Tamara Taylor, Ben Sanders and Thomas Sanders, with whom he has been very close over the years.

Bill outlived all of his wives and siblings, and is survived by all of his children, their spouses, and many, many grandchildren.

Services will be held on 16 July 2022 in San Antonio, TX at Porter Loring North Mortuary and burial at Mission North Cemetery.Donations in his memory can go to the Cal Farleys Boys Ranch, https://www.calfarley.org/ and to the Palo Duro Canyon State Park, via the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation, https://tpwd.texas.gov/business/donations/