George William "Bill" Bullard Jr.

Bill was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina to the late George William Bullard, Sr. and Florence Diana Bullard on July 30, 1929. He had two sisters, Alice and Alma and two brothers, James and Tommy. He was raised primarily by his father after his mom died during childbirth when Tommy was born. Bill’s father was in the Army and the discipline of military life must have been part of the household because Bill was a very disciplined and organized person.

After graduating from high school, Bill enlisted in the Navy and served from February 10, 1947 to May 26, 1950. For a short period of time he worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in El Paso, Texas in the area of finance. After that, he moved to the Washington, DC area to live with his sister, Alice Donaldson.

In 1952 he began working for the Arlington County Government Highway Department. Shortly after that he met Shirley Jacobs, his wife of 65 years, while on a blind date where Shirley was the date of the other boy. A few days after the initial date, Bill asked Shirley out and as they say the rest is history!

Bill’s career with Arlington County kept him very busy. He was responsible for leaf collection and snow removal, the latter of which would keep him at work for days at a time during big snowstorms. And to provide extra income for his family he worked part time jobs delivering school buses, working at a filling station, and was the resident manager at their apartment home on Thomas Street in Arlington.

In 1971 the family moved to a house in the Cherrydale section of Arlington where Bill and Shirley continued to raise their family, became grandparents and great grandparents, and lived for the remainder of their lives.

Bill retired from Arlington County in January 1985 after his 32-year career. More than one person told us that when he retired, it took two people to do his job and they were not joking! He was a very organized, dedicated, hard worker.

Retirement gave him additional time to do what he loved best, getting out and about. Bill was an avid walker before walking became so popular. It was nothing for him to walk ten plus miles each day to Georgetown, the Mall in DC, or National Airport. For many years he walked back and forth to the McDonalds on Wilson Boulevard to enjoy conversation and coffee with the senior crowd that gathered there.

When retirement seemed to be a bit too slow for him, he went back to work part time for around 10 years at Cherrydale Auto Parts reorganizing the stock room to his specifications!

He loved visiting his sister Alice and friends at Glebe Harbor in the Northern Neck of Virginia. As Alice aged, Bill began visiting more frequently to help her around the house and to keep an eye out on her. During many of those trips, he would sneak in some fishing time with his close friends Skip and “Charlie Brown.”

Bill and his fishing buddies would also travel far and wide to listen to live rock and roll music as played by another good friend, Bill Rupprecht. If rock and roll was involved, no one ever had to worry about finding a dancing partner as long as Bill was there. And boy could he dance!

Another one of Bill’s passions was getting on the road and going somewhere. Every summer for many years, Bill and his family drove to Missouri to experience farm life and to enjoy an extended vacation with family friends. He went on numerous long distance trips with his children and grandchildren for sports and music camps, college visits, family reunions, and vacations. And he absolutely LOVED the beach!

Bill was an easy going person who loved to be around other people. He got along with everyone, never had a bad word to say about anybody, and was one of the friendliest and most upbeat person you could ever meet. He was a very happy person who was happiest when he was keeping busy. He did not like to let the grass grow under his feet. He was a devoted and caring husband who took great care of his wife up until she passed away on March 11, 2019.

Bill passed away on May 22, 2019 surrounded by his family after a very sudden and very unexpected illness. He will be sadly missed by all who knew and loved him.