William (Bill) Lee Cone, age 75, died on Friday, July 20th in his home in Piperton, TN surrounded by his wife and children after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Born in north Florida and raised in Jacksonville, Bill graduated from Terry Parker High School in 1961. He excelled in sports and was a member of his high school’s swim team, basketball team and football team. Immediately after graduation Bill enlisted with the Air Force where he served until 1964 when an injury would result in his honorable discharge. It was on a blind date while living in Tallahassee that he met the love of his life and spouse of 50 years, Alice. They married just 5 months later on July 6th. On the same day Bill took his last final exam to earn his BS in Business from the University of Georgia, the happy couple found out they were expecting their first child.
Working as an officer for the University of Georgia as a student eventually led to a job with the District Attorney’s office in Athens as a detective. This time in law enforcement helped build his future career in loss prevention first with Nationwise Auto Parts in Columbus, Ohio and then as the VP of Loss Prevention with AutoZone in Memphis, TN. Bill retired from AutoZone in 2002 and moved to his new home on Bear Creek. Bill loved riding his motorcycle on the Natchez Trace near their lake home, taking his boat or jet skis out for ‘runs’ up the creek and playing golf at Shiloh Falls Golf Club where he got his Hole In One! A strong Christian and role model Bill was active in church teaching 8th grade boys and ordained as a deacon at Germantown Baptist church. His favorite trip was to The Holy Land with Dr. Adrian Rogers and his close friends in 1995.
Bill is survived by his wife Alice Cone, son Tom (Denise) Cone, daughter Shannon (Justin) McDonald, and grandchildren Caleb, Jacob, Carrie Evelyn, Cadie, Hope and Sam.
The funeral services will be held on Thursday, July 26, 2018 at 10:00 AM at Collierville Funeral Home, 534 West Poplar Ave, Collierville, with Dr. Ken Story officiating. The committal service will follow at Magnolia Cemetery in Collierville. The family will greet friends at the visitation from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM on Thursday at Collierville Funeral Home and again at a reception immediately following the committal service at Collierville Funeral Home.
The Cone family would like to extend our gratitude to all the staff of Page Robbins Adult Day Center for their attentiveness and loving care. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Page Robbins Adult Day Center via their website: pagerobbins.org, Brinkley Heights Urban Academy via their website: bhua.org or the Alzheimer’s organization of your choice. “The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.” Proverbs 20:7
