William Lawrence Keating

During his life he also volunteered in the early years of the Vive Les Arts Theater when it existed in downtown Killeen and its move to the current building. Working directly with theater director Ron Hannemann, he built sets, maintained, setup, and recommended future purchases lighting and sound equipment.

Bill started his career in electronics as a radio and TV repairman at Modern TV & Appliance. He also spent a few years working at the downtown central exchange of Central Telephone in Killeen. The majority of his life, over 35 years with the numerous support contracts for what is currently the Operational Test Command (OTC) based at West Fort Hood, TX. As the command changed from

TCATA (TRADOC Combined Arms Test Activity) to TEXCOM (TRADOC Test and Experimentation Command) to the current OTC, he was there supporting and later designing improvements to key test instrumentation systems. Starting with the TAFIS - (TRADOC Army Field Instrumentation System) where he maintained some of the earliest compact computer systems.

He developed an interest in remote control cars, airplanes, and helicopters. His collection of these became almost obsessive and grew to take up a large area in his home.

Along these lines he developed an interest in HAM radio in which he was quite active for several years.

From his earliest years, motorcycles were significant in his life. Numerous group and singular trips to Colorado, the Big Bend, Las Vegas, and several points toward the eastern regions of the United States were done on the various two wheel vehicles he owned over the decades. For over 20 plus years, he was active in the yearly Tri-County Toy Run from Temple to Lampasas. He loved the freedom motorcycles provided to travel across the country at an affordable rate. Facing and overcoming challenges presented when weather or road conditions forced changing plans was part of the adventure he loved while taking that road less traveled.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.crawfordbowersfuneralhome.com for the KEATING family.