William Joseph Erkes III

Greer, SC

Born in Philadelphia, PA, he was the son of the late William J. Erkes Jr. and Margaret Stewart Erkes.

Bill grew up surfing in Hermosa Beach, CA. He later moved to Rock Hill and graduated from the Winthrop Training School.

He received his B.S. from Georgia Southern University. He was a former Director of the Greenville County Department of Parks and Recreation. He then joined Fluor-Daniel in Public Relations before retiring from Laurens County as their Director of Parks and Recreation. Bill lived his life in search of unexpected beauty and happy coincidences.

William Joseph Erkes III, 74, passed away Wednesday afternoon February 4, 2015.

A former army drill sergeant, he enjoyed hiking the Appalachian mountains and spent much of his time cycling the roads in and around Greenville county. He was a member of Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church where he was an Elder Emeritus. Bill was a member of the Agape Sunday School Class and enjoyed volunteering with the Good News Club.

He is survived by his loving family, his wife of 47 years, Jane Chapman Erkes; his daughters, Brantley Horne and husband, Stanton of Greenville, and Lindy Erkes of Franklin, IN; and his sister, Jane Campbell and husband, Bob of Greenville.

A service to celebrate his life will be Saturday afternoon, February 7, at 3:00pm at Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church with Pastors Andy Lewis and Curtis DuBose officiating.

The family will receive friends following the service at the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Childhood Evangelism Fellowship.

Online condolences may be sent to mackeymortuary.com

The Mackey Mortuary.