William Keith Kirkgard

Bill was born on June 16, 1939, to Mabel Black Kirkgard and William Theodore Kirkgard. He graduated from Lamar High School in 1957 and attended the University of Texas in Austin as a Plan II Honors major. While at UT, Bill was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, was an intramural handball champion, and met the love of his life, Betsy Jones of Waco. They married on June 18, 1960. Bill spent his career in the homebuilding business, primarily as a custom home builder in the West University, Bellaire, River Oaks, and Tanglewood neighborhoods, but his true passion was baseball, where he spent over 30 years as a community umpire from Little League to high school. Bill completed newspaper puzzles every day and watched Jeopardy! every night, and was a voracious reader of historical fiction and biographies. He was a proud Texan and an enthusiastic Longhorn fan. He never met a stranger and would share his tales with anyone who would listen! But he was most proud of his family and would often say that he had no idea how he got so lucky in his life!

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his sister June Graham. He is survived by his wife of 65 years Betsy; brother Robert Kirkgard; sister Kathleen Gillock; daughter Beth Kirkgard Allen (Sid); son Keith Kirkgard (Shelly); daughter Holly Kirkgard Wilbourn (David); 7 grandchildren—Catie Allen Hill (Jeff), Jim Allen (Micaela), Sarah Allen, Will Kirkgard (Sarah), Cameron Kirkgard (Katie), Austin Wilbourn, and Matthew Wilbourn; 5 great-grandchildren—Sydney Hill, Robert Allen, Charlie Hill, Jameson Brown, Anderson Allen, and one more on the way; as well as several nephews and nieces.

A private graveside service will be held on a future date. Honorary pallbearers will be his 5 grandsons and dear friends George Nachitgall and Mike Rutledge. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice in Bill’s name.