Billy Joe “Bill” Toon departed this earth and entered eternity on December 8, 2018 at the age of 94. Born in Enloe, Delta County, Texas on December 24, 1923, he was the son of Clyde E. Powers and Robert B. Toon. It was before the Great Depression and times were difficult growing up on a northeast Texas farm. After high school he attended East Texas State College (now Texas A&M Commerce).
When World War II started Bill felt the patriotic call to serve his country and joined the United States Navy. As a member of the Navy’s Construction Battalion (the CBs or Seabees), he was among the Seabees who landed at Omaha Beach, France after the D-Day invasion in June 1944 to help rebuild. It was during his time in the Navy that he learned the construction trade. After the war ended he returned to college, then to Dallas to work in construction. However, he was called to active duty during the Korean Conflict which began in 1950.
After the truce that ended the fighting in Korea in 1953, Bill went back to Dallas and eventually went to work for Peter Wolf Design building stage sets for plays and musicals. In 1965 he and business partner Gene Geaslin started the Dallas Stage Scenery Company, and he spent his career working with the Dallas Opera, Six Flags Over Texas and many more entertainment venues including the Dallas Summer Musicals (DSM) at the Music Hall at Fair Park. He became the “house man” directing backstage operations during shows at DSM while he co-owned Dallas Stage Scenery.
In 1983 Bill sold his interest in Dallas Stage to his business partner, and continued for many years as house man for DSM. During this time the director of DSM, Tom Hughes, called Bill the finest stage production carpenter in the country. A person of high integrity, Bill was one of the most fair and honest people in his industry, and was well respected by his peers and stage crews. The company he co-founded still operates today.
One of Bill’s great grandfathers was among the Union soldiers who were paroled prisoners aboard the steamship Sultana that exploded on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865. The soldiers were heading back north after the Civil War. It is the worst maritime disaster in American history, and Bill’s ancestor was one of more than 1,000 people killed.
In another footnote to history, Bill was manning a second-floor spotlight at the Dallas Trade Mart on November 22, 1963 awaiting the arrival of President and Mrs. Kennedy. When the motorcade never arrived, he was among the first to hear of the assassination.
Bill was predeceased by his only son, Michael E. Toon, who passed away in 2013. He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Mary Nell Chapman Toon; daughter Brenda Toon Young and her husband Eddie; grandsons Wes Young and his wife Courtney, Todd Young and his wife Ashley, and Scott Young and his wife Deanna; niece Betty Jane Shirley and her husband E.B.; nephews Steve Maclin and his wife Rhonda, Gary Maclin and his wife Georgiana, and Glen Maclin; various grand nieces and nephews and seven great grandchildren.
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