William (Bill) A. Goolsbee

Services for William A. (Bill) Goolsbee, 85, of Lufkin, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, September 30, 2012 in the Gipson Funeral Home Chapel, with Bro. Ty Phillips officiating. Interment will follow in the Garden of Memories Memorial Park.

Bill was born July 24, 1927 in Rusk, Texas. He passed away Monday, September 24, 2012 in a local nursing facility.

He served in the United States Air Force in New York, where he met and married Eleanor Voigt. They moved to Lufkin in 1954 and worked for Texas State Optical as an optician, a skill he acquired while in the service. He lost his wife Eleanor in 1963 and later married his current wife Wanda (Bobbie) Havard. He retired from T.S.O. after 40 years and began his own company, Zed Creek Dirt Service, which he ran for several years. Bill was a charter member of the Angelina County Mounted Patrol, which formed in 1955 and rode with them for 31 years. He was a member of Cross Road Baptist Church.

Bill was preceded in death by his father, Cronon Goolsbee of Rusk; his mother, Mary Jordan Goolsbee; wife Eleanor; brothers, Marion and Daniel; sister-in-law, Marian Ruth; and granddaughter, Heather Sizemore.

He is survived by his wife Wanda of Lufkin; daughter and son-in-law, Teresa and Bob Hatcher of Austin; daughter, Janice Sizemore of Dallas; daughter, Sherry Pierce of Lufkin; daughter, Sheila Powell of Dallas; daughter and son-in-law, Phyllis and Joe Cardenas of Fort Worth; grandchildren, Christie Stephens, Michael Phillips, Marissa Powell, Aaron Powell, Hannah Cardenas; great-grandchildren, Dakota, Skylar, Bethany, Aarrin, Justice and Brooke; stepchildren, Tish and Kris Hopson, Jeannene and Jon Bunn, Delisa and Chuck Riley and Rory Lowery; and 7 step-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Dakota Phillips, Michael Phillips, Aaron Powell, Jacob Bunn, Grant Riley, Bryan Stephens, and Joe Cardenas.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday evening at Gipson Funeral Home.

Condolences may be offered at www.gipsonfuneralhome.com

Services have been placed in the trust of Gipson Funeral Home