W. W. "Bill" Aston

W.W. “Bill” Aston was born on October 6, 1927 at his uncle’s residence located at the Texas Power and Light Company’s Norwood electric power substation in Irving, Texas. He passed away on July 8, 2010 at age 82. As a child, Bill lived in multiple locations in Texas from the Rio Grande to the Red River, throughout Central Texas and in Arkansas and Oklahoma before coming to Dallas. He served in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific from 1945-46.

He married Evelyn Attaway of Durant, Oklahoma in 1948. He said, “Among my many blessings was when Evelyn, a part Choctaw Indian girl from Oklahoma agreed to be my wife in 1948 and stayed with me throughout all these years without scalping me. We were blessed with our daughters, Adonica and Melanie, who made us proud parents, and with our grandchildren Caitlin and Samuel who will be stand-outs on whatever paths they take.”

After he was discharged from the Navy in 1946, Bill went to work for Dallas Power & Light Company, where he worked for 40 years before retiring in 1986. He worked in overhead construction, human resources, advertising, sales, customer relations, and public relations at DP&L before becoming President, his position upon retiring.

Bill was active in many volunteer activities locally and nationally with a focus on health care. He served as Board Chairman of the American Heart Association’s Dallas Chapter and Texas Affiliate before becoming Board Chair of the national organization. During his many years of service to the American Heart Association, he was proud of the progress made in reducing mortality rates from cardiovascular diseases through educating the public about the risk factors–smoking, elevated blood pressure, lack of exercise, cholesterol, salt, stress and obesity.

He has served the Baylor Health Care System for over twenty years at various times as Board Chair of Baylor University Medical Center, Board Chair of Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital, and a Board member of the Baylor Health Care System. At Baylor, he authored a resolution calling for ever-improving delivery of high quality, safe patient care which was adopted by all Baylor Health Care System facilities.

Since the 1940’s, he has also served other organizations such as: Chairman of City of Dallas Civil Service Commission, DART Board member, Officer or Board Member of Dallas Zoological Society, Dallas Ballet, Dallas Summer Musicals, The Science Place, Camp Fire Girls, Dallas Advertising League, Dallas County Community College System, Public Relations Society of America, Dallas Assembly, State Fair of Texas, United Way and Texas Health Care Trustees.

He graduated with honors from SMU’s Cox School of Business with a BBA degree and was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma. He served as President of SMU’s Alumni Association and as a member of the Executive Board of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. He was a long-time active member of Rotary, and served as President of the Dallas Rotary Club and District Governor of Rotary International. He also served for 18 years as a volunteer driver on the McKinney Avenue Trolley.

Bill received many awards and recognitions: The American Heart Association’s Dwight D. Eisenhower Award as Volunteer of the Year for Texas, Brotherhood Citation Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Distinguished Alumni Award from SMU, Founders Award from the Texas Health Care Trustees, Trustee of the Year Award from the Dallas County Medical Society and Distinguished Health Service Award from the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.

Most recently, the Board of Trustees of Baylor Health Care System established the Bill Aston Annual Award for Quality which will be awarded by the Texas Hospital Association for the first time in 2011.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Evelyn; daughters, Adonica Aston and Melanie Schumaker and husband, Chris; granddaughter, Caitlin Aston Johnston; grandson, Samuel Schumaker; brother, James Aston; sister-in law, Linda Aston; cousins, Frances Hamrick, Cornelia Snider, Billy Joe Graves; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother, Ada B. Graves Aston and his brothers, Franklin Delano Aston and Scotty Joe Aston.

In addition to his work and volunteer activities, he sought out and participated in many adventures. After retiring from TXU, he became a certified scuba diver and worked on a shark research project in the Bahamas and a Manatee Research Project in Sarasota, Florida. He and a friend operated a boat on a 6,000 mile journey from Mobile, Alabama across the Gulf of Mexico, around the East Coast of the U.S. in the Atlantic to New York City to the St. Lawrence Seaway, then traveled to far north Canada and on to the Great Lakes. They crossed Lake Michigan to Chicago and then ventured down the Mississippi River, Ohio River, and Tennessee River to the Tombigbee waterway to Mobile Bay. He also traveled on ocean-going freighters out of New Orleans across the North Atlantic to Europe and on container ships out of Florida to South American ports. He recently had the opportunity to place his hand on a 60,000 pound mother Grey whale in the wild as she guarded her 2,000 pound baby. He described this as being like a religious experience.

He was always grateful for the privileges and opportunities he received along the way and for being able to serve others. Bill Aston was a man who always tried to do more than just enough.

Family visitation will be held on Sunday, July 11 from 4-6 p.m. at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held on Monday, July 12 at 2 p.m. in the chapel at Sparkman Hillcrest. His ashes will be interred at a later date at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Baylor Health Care System Foundation. 3600 Gaston Avenue, Suite 100, Dallas, TX 75246.