Billy Penrod Berglund

Billy P. Berglund was born in Sinton, Texas on July 23, 1928. He attended Bay City high school, graduating in 1945 and then joined the Air Force, though at the time it was called the Army Air Corps. Billy joined the service just after the end of WWII and helped occupy Japan for two years. After he returned, he took advantage of the GI bill and enrolled at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now known as Texas A & M University, to become an engineer. He graduated in January of 1954 with a degree in industrial engineering.

Along the way he met and married the love of his life, Ms.

Elberta Alcorn. After graduation, he hired on with Boeing Corporation and moved his new family to Seattle, Washington. At Boeing, Billy worked on a variety of high-tech aerospace programs, mostly dealing with rockets and missiles. Directly, along came his first two sons, and then a move to California in 1961. There he worked on the Minute-Man missile project for a few years, after which he became attached to Apollo project, as Boeing was prime contractor for the bottom stage of this huge moon rocket. The Berglund family followed this project for many years, resulting first in a move to Louisiana and later a more to Cocoa Beach, Florida. While in Lousiana, he was blessed with his third and final child, again a son. While in Florida, he was privileged to witness the lift off of the Apollo 11 mission which resulted in the first man on the moon.

After this, the Berglund family moved back to Texas and Billy made the hard decision to stay there and not return to Seattle, as his eldest son was starting to complain about moving too often. Eventually, this family of five settled in 1970 in the city of Friendswood, which was his final home. He became a lifelong member of the Friendswood United Methodist church. He was an active in the lives of his family attending school event after school event after school event. At work, Billy was mostly a behind-the–scenes kind of guy, working quietly and diligently without making any noise. His employer tried to make him a supervisor once, but he didn’t really didn’t like it. Billy was a devoted A & M football fan. He was also an avid golfer, probably the only thing he didn’t pass on to his kids. Billy retired from Grumman Corporation in 1993, after which he was quite active in the Grumman Retirees Club

Billy was an extremely generous man. Though he was a depression-era child, he was never stingy and always quick to lend a hand when a person was in need. Loved by all around him, his legacy is one of care and compassion. Seldom comes along a man like this, and he will be sorely missed.

Billy is survived by his wife, Elberta (Berta), his three sons Victor, Keith, and David, 7 grandchildren: Daniel, Lauren, Joseph, Katherine Phillips, Michael, William, and Carrie Mae , and one great grandchild, Joshua Berglund. He is also survived by his brother, George Thomas Berglund. He is mourned by his sisters-in-law Maxine Alcorn and Mary Schumacher and Gloria McClellan (deceased).

Visitation will be held on Friday, October 17, 2014 from 6:30p.m. – 8:00p.m. with a Rosary Service at 7:00p.m. at Forest Park East Funeral Home in Webster, Texas. There will be a Graveside Service on Saturday October 18, 2014 at 9:30a.m. in Forest Park East Cemetery. After burial there will be a Memorial Service at Friendswood United Methodist Church 110 N Friendswood Dr, Friendswood, TX 7754.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice, especially small church-based funds which minister to the local community.