Bill Mays, beloved by his family, friends, fellow servants at work, at church, in the military, and in life, entered into the joy prepared for him on May 20th, 2018. Those who knew him best remember him as a man of humor, who loved to laugh and to make those around him happy. He leaves behind immediate family members of his loving mate and cherished wife Yvonne Mays, sons Marty and Mark Mays, and sister Wanda Williams.
His life of service to others will be celebrated at Parkway Funeral Home and Memorial Park at 1161 Highland Colony Pkwy, Ridgeland, MS 39157, with an 11am chapel service on Saturday, May 26, 2018. Family visitation is available to all from 9am to 11am before the service. Graveside military honors will immediately follow the chapel service, as the site is in brief walking distance in the memorial park.
He lived in the Jackson Area his entire life, being born in the old Jackson Infirmary on March 3rd, 1943. As a war baby, his father Hubert “Buddy” Mays having been called to serve at the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, our family legend has it on good authority that Bill was already set in his ways by his doting mother and spoiling aunts by the time his Dad returned home in 1945. Bill had a paper route and was an early adopter of motorcycles. He graduated from Jackson Central High School and entered the Army, later serving in the reserves. He married young and had two boys before he was 24 years old.
He worked for the City of Jackson in the Department of Finance, served with the Jackson-Hinds County Civil Defense. He worked in Code Administration for the city of Jackson, thereafter. The bulk of his work-life was spent as a Regional Manager, then Vice President of Southland Management Corporation, a property management company that operated state wide, home office in Jackson. He was GRI trained in property management, held his real estate license, and served as Past President and Director of the Greater Jackson Apartment Association. He was also a Director of the MS Multi-Family Council for many years. He was also founder and director of the Vicksburg-Warren County Apartment Association.
All the while, Chief Warrant Officer Five William H. Mays was serving our country in a 37 year career as a US Army Criminal Investigation (CID) Agent. His last assignment before military retirement honors was a Battalion Level Investigative Special Agent. His retirement rank of CW5 is the highest attainable for an Army Criminal Investigator. His Army Reserve Unit, MS 733rd, was a second family to him, and many of his military friends are to be represented among the pallbearers for his internment.
He earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Hinds Community College, a Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies from Life Christian Learning Center, and was an ordained Deacon in the Southern Baptist Church. Bill Mays finished his course, fought the good fight and kept the faith. Even in his mid-seventies he served as an adult Sunday School teacher and conducted a nursing home ministry leading others to know Christ and make Him known.
He was preceded in death by his father Hubert C. Mays and his mother Oveta J. Mays. He leaves behind and will be missed by his Wife Yvonne C. Mays; son Marty Mays, and his wife Shannon and his sons Corey, Aubrey and Peyton; son Mark Mays, and his wife Laura and his daughter Meg. He will also be missed by his stepchildren, Johnny Lee and his wife Dottie, and their sons Adam and Christopher, Kay Keen and her husband Jimmy and their sons Jay and Karl, and Jimbo Lee and his wife LeAnn and their son Jason as well as two great granddaughters Avery and Emery Lee.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Flowood Baptist Church (Building Fund), 1649 Old Fannin Rd., Flowood, MS 39232.
