William Nathaniel Thompson

“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” - Helen Keller

William “Bill” Thompson, age 59 entered eternal rest on Saturday, August 8, 2026. Bill was born on December 8, 1966, in Manila, Philippines to Marita Salimbagat and Billy Thompson and moved to Houston when he was ten years old where he joined his loving parents Marita and Robert Schefft and younger brothers Chris and Ashley. Bill graduated from Westbury High School prior to graduating from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Art degree in Humanities with an emphasis on Philosophy and Literature. Bill dedicated most of his career to teaching, starting at Deady Middle School where he taught English and served for 3 years as the chairman of the English/Language Arts Department and led workshops as a fellow member of both the Greater Houston Area Writing Project and the National Council of Teachers of English. As an advocate for literacy Bill worked with Literacy through Photography, which encourages children to explore their worlds as they photograph scenes from their own lives helping to build their oral and written communication skills. During his time at Deady Middle School, Bill was also given the opportunity to work as a professional mentor/teacher for graduate students at both Rice University and University of Houston. Bill continued his career moving to Milby High School as head of the AP English department and became the head coach of the Milby High School swim team winning District Championship for seven consecutive years. After a career change to the private sector Bill worked for Sonomatic, Inc. as a Logistics and Assets Manager and traveled extensively, meeting and making friends around the world before leaving and joining Vector Controls & Automation Group as an Inside Sales Engineer.

Bill met the love of his life Carol in Atlanta, Georgia getting married in Tampa, Florida in 1995. They were best friends and completely understood one another. They loved traveling together, spending many summers visiting his extended family in Kenai, Alaska, enjoying time with his dad Billy and siblings, Ann, Ruby, Sarah, Lani, Billy and numerous nieces and nephews. They loved a great road trip, and going to Tampa to see Carol’s family where Bill spent a lot of time on the water sailing with his father-in-law Jim. Fiercely competitive, they promised not to race each other when doing laps in the pool since both were avid swimmers. However, it always ended up with each screaming “I am not racing!” while both furiously sprinting to the other side. Soon they had to swim with many lanes separating them to prevent spontaneous “racing.” That is how Bill and Carol laughed and loved each other throughout their lives together. During difficult times, they found humor in many of life’s challenges including dealing with their willfully disobedient dogs, fender benders in Alaska’s snow and ice to being boat evacuated during Hurricane Harvey. Bill was the calm for Carol during life’s storms.

Bill never met a stranger. Compassionate, empathetic, patient but most of all humble, he built many deep friendships and was quick to help or to share a laugh and a pint. “CHEERS!” Bill was a lover of art. Whether at the Field Museum in Chicago, The MET in New York or the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston he spent countless hours emersed in the galleries of paintings and sculptures. Another great passion of Bill was music, he loved playing and teaching guitar, he loved classical to classic rock, with The Beatles being his favorite. One of his biggest thrills was crossing Abbey Road and getting the iconic picture.

Bill was unapologetically Bill. He chose the road less traveled, enjoying the journey, playing his music and making many friends along the way. Now Bill has taken yet another road, and we will miss him dearly.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

• Robert Frost

Bill is preceded in death by his father Billy Thompson, and his brother Ashley Williams. He is survived by his loving wife of 31 years, Carol, his mother, Marita Bokelman (Bob), his parent, Robert Schefft (Sue), Chris Williams (Jen), Ann Story (Brian), Lani Smith (Rob), Sarah Thompson, Ruby Celia (Jack), Billy Thompson Jr (Nadia). Bill is also survived by nieces and nephews, Alayna, Anya, Ameila, Ethan and David as well as numerous family and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Bill’s memory to ProLiteracy Worldwide at: Proliteracy.org

Or

To the Museum of Fine Arts Houston at:

Mfah.org/support

Funeral services will be held for Bill on Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 10:00 am

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church

386 N Castell Ave

New Braunfels, TX 78130