Bill Vickers was an interesting person.   I knew him several years.   He often came to Denny's restaurant for breakfast with his wife Florence.  We talked about many things including the Air Force, the Army in World War II, the use of computers in education, the meaning of Christianity, and the future of democracy.   He maintained an optimism that overcame all problems of his health.   He fought cancer very hard.  I was in Texas when he passed away, and I am sorry that I was not at the funeral services.  My love to his family.  Sincerely  Robert M. Gordon, Jr.

Bill--We miss you.  You welcomed us into the family immediately when you married Mother/Toots and accepted us as your "other" children and grandchildren. You were always quietly supportive of us and we knew you loved us all.  You were definitely a people person and had your own breakfast club full of wonderful people. You were such an inspiration to so many people. We know you are now traveling the streets of heaven adding them to your map.  We love you Bill.  Steve and Barb Bates

My condolences to your family.  Bill and I were in the same office in the Pentagon for a few years and I believe we were promoted to Lt. Col. at the same time.  He always had a great sense of humor and was greatly respected by all of the people he worked with.  We met a few times for lunch after I moved to Colorado and the last time I saw him was at my son's funeral almost 5 years ago.  I was at the funeral today but the line was long and the staging time for Fort Logan was getting close so I did not have the opportunity to speak with you.  My best to your family and live with the good memories as they are very precious.  
                       Sincerely,
                             Stan States

My Friend Bill, also known as Vickers' #4 as a long running joke between him and myself. Where do I start, it was a priviledge to say Bill was my friend and also my family. I will greatly miss our yearly meetings at Opals for lunch, the stories that he shared with us there. I will miss my weekly phone call from him that had turned into monthly calls. He was a remarkable man, and I can only pray that my Vickers' boys turn into a fraction of the man he was. My heart is saddened but I know where Bill is, and until I see him again there will alway be a scar on my heart for him. We love you Bill! The Vickers Clan.

  Bill and I worked together at Metro and both of us were involved in The Data Processing Management Association.  Its been a number of years since we have gotten together.  He will be missed.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.  Leonard & Jeanne Kopec

Bill was a colleague and friend of mine from Metro State College.  We had many fond memories and shared many "war stories" from our time we spent in Viet Nam and foreign ports while on R&R.  I will miss him and his great sense of humor.  Not only was Bill the Director of Computer Services at Metro, but he also played a significant part in establishing Metro's Academic Comptuer Center for the students back in the last 70's.  Many thanks Bill and I'm sure you're still having a toasted ham & cheese sandwich with a chocolate milk for lunch!  Your friend and colleague, Marc Falkenhan.

May you enjoy many card parties with my loving parents, Penny and Clayton, and Grandma E, and Uncle Bob, you'll be missed. Love to you Aunt Toots. Love Sherrie and Family.

      Our Brother Our Friend
Bill was fourth of eleven children born to Clifton Henry Vickers and Etta Mae Cook.  We were raised in Gray Hawk, KY.  The environment was one where the people of the whole community provided a discipline to teach:  right from wrong;  honesty vs. dishonesty;  earning your own livelihood;  taking pride in doing a good job;  respect your friends and accquaintances and especially your elders;  expecting the best from yourself and others.  Sound familiar?  This pretty well describes the characterists of Bill and the way he lived his life.  Our Dad used to say "a man is only as good as his word and he should always live up to his word".  Yes, Bill maintained that also.  Our Mother taught us always tell the truth and how to be generous to those less fortunate than we were.  Th Bible says, "it is more blessed to give than receive"  we know that Bill too practiced that during his entire life.

Bill wrote one time that the leadership qualities developed the first eighteen years of his life in Jackson County Kentucky, were his greatest assets.  His values were formed growing up at Gray Hawk by his family, his neighbors, school teachers and Sunday School teachers. But according to him it took many years to mature as a Christian.  "I raised cane on Saturday night and went to church on Sunday, he would laughingly say" .  Sense of humor?  You bet he had one!  I bet everyone who met him would have a funny "tale" to share about him.  He had a great smile and loved to laugh loudly. We will certainly miss that!  When he made his annual visits to Kentucky, we siblings would sit around the dinner table and lisen to the many mischievous activities of years gone by.  The love we all shared was very special and means so much to the remaining four siblings:  Russell Vickers, Datha Davidson, Aldena Bingham and Vivian Marcum.

Bill was a unique person and lived by the principles he developed in his youth, never wavering from them.  He stayed true to his God as is evidenced by his chosen scripture to be read at his funeral.  Ephesians 2:8  "For by grace are ye saved through faith:  and that not of yourselves:  it is a gift of God . ."

To Florence, Donald, James, John and Beth Ann and Jack..........From the many nieces and nephews, brother, sisters and friends from your Kentucky family............We send our love, and although we may not physically be at Bill's service on Dec,22,  we will be there in spirit and we thank God for having Bill as our brother and friend for nearly 84 years.

Vivian V. Marcum
vimarc@prtcnet.com

To me he was Grover Bill, the first cousin, who always visited his aunts, uncles, and cousins on his many visits home to Gray Hawk, Kentucky.  My daddy, a younger brother to his father, Clifton, looked forward to those visits.  Grover Bill traveled many miles on those trips to Kentucky and while in Kentucky, he would drive up to Ohio where two of his aunts and brother, Russell lived.  While in Ohio, all first cousins and family relatives had a visit from Grover Bill.  He never missed any relatives on those trips.

I may be the only cousin that refers to him by his full name—I like double names.  Many times there is a good story in the name and his name has such.  The story is that his mother, Aunt Etta, named him Grover and my daddy nicknamed him “Curly Bill”.  (As a child, he had beautiful, reddish blonde, curly hair). Family and friends picked up on the Bill and he went into the military by this name and found Bill was not on his birth certificate-just Grover.  He went about the legal process of  having Bill added to his name and became my daddy, Bill’s, first namesake.  I think daddy thought someone should have named a nephew for him and he gave him that nickname.  He definitely was one of daddy’s favorites!! 

Several years ago I started the research on our Vicars/Vickers genealogy.   He helped me so much with information on our many Vicars/Vickers relatives.  Being older than I, he had known many of our great aunts and uncles that were deceased and was able to contribute so much family history.  On his trips to Kentucky, he and my daddy had visited cemeteries looking for ancestors and he was continually sending information.  His friends from the military will appreciate the fact that we found that our 5th grandfather, Robert Vicars/Vickers, had fought in the American Revolution.

Another way that Grover Bill gave his family in Kentucky many happy memories, was his taking the leadership role in having a Vickers Reunion every June near Gray Hawk, KY.  All of our parents are now deceased, but the first cousins with their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren  gather every June to remember our parents and enjoy being part of  this great extended family.  He was with us this past June and we cherish our last memory of being with our family leader, Grover Bill.  The gathering will continue, but it won’t me the same …. we are going to miss his hugs. 

Bill was a great American, a great University of Kentucky Basketball Fan,a great military leader, but most of all he was a great Family Man.  We loved and respected him and he returned that love and respect to all of us.  Bill leaves three sisters, Datha, Vivian and Aldena in Kentucky and one brother, Russell, in Ohio, many nieces, nephews, and cousins with happy memories of his presence in out lives.  We send our love to Florence,  Donald, and Elizabeth Ann, John and James and his step children and grand children.

A loving First Cousin,
Glenna Vickers Burton  
Dg707@insightbb.com
Bowling Green, KY

To the family of Bill Vickers,

I worked at Metro, and Bill was such a happy and friendly guy to every one he met, sorry to see him gone.


Gary Hobbs
Eastlake, CO

Bill was always happy to see you.  He was a gentleman in all ways.  He would call me his "mother-in-law" since he had to ask us for our mother's hand in marriage.  My husband recalls an exchange of letters between him and Bill. A dowry of livestock and a fishing boat was demanded for my Mother's hand in marriage of which 
Bill said all the livestock were being hearded up to Alaska from Colorado, and the fishing boat was on a remote island in Alaska where Danny could pick it up.  His sense of humor, teasing, his generosity, his honor, and especially his willingness to share his faith in God will always be branded in our hearts. We'll miss you so much.

Bill Vicker was a personal friend to the Smith family and we shared many thing in common.  I looked up to him as a child and in my youth.  While living in Hignlands Ranch, Co, Bill and I talked a lot about the memoried that we shared.  He was a good person and spoke highly of the church he attended in Denver.  My  greatest sympathy is expressed to the his family and the sibling families.  May God grant you peace as you grieve the loss of a special father, husband, and brother. My sincere condolences to you!

Bill was a boss, a mentor, a coach and a friend for life.  I will always remember the life lessons he taught me even when I didn't work for him.  Bill's energy and lust for life inspired me and others and I will always appreciate being in his circle.  He will be missed.  I send prayers to the family.
Susette

Bill Vickers was a spiritual and moral man that always went out of his way to help others.  When asked for his coat, he threw in his hat and gloves too.  The Texas Bates family will miss his Sunday status reports and witty conversation.  He was always there when he was needed, and had a kind humor that drew everyone he met to him.  Going to a restaurant with Bill was an entertaining experience, and he seemed to draw a crowd.  He always had plenty of friends to have lunch with, and loved a good dance.  Bill's had many good long time friends and he seemed a pet name for all of them.  He was solid as a rock, and always maintained his dignity through the most difficult situations.  What we appreciate most is how he loved his wife and our mother Florence, and the way he took care of her, gave her joy and security, and of course she loved his pet name for her which was "She Who Must be Obeyed".  Bill will be sorely missed.  God be with you Bill.  

Ken & Deana Bates

Thoughts and prayers to the family of Bill Vickers. He was a good man. I am glad he was able to be at the Gray Hawk Reunion in September and I had a brief visit with him. I am sure Vivian and his other remaining siblings are grieving his death.  May God provide all of the family with strength for the journey. Hazel Morris, Berea, KY.

To the family of a great American and wonderful friend, Bill Vickers: 

Bill Vickers was truly a great, personal  friend to all the Smith clan who lived in the town of Gray Hawk, Kentucky during our earlier years..  The Vickers family and our Smith family were similar in the number of family members and age range. We attended the same church and shared many beliefs, principals and work ethics. Bill was a friend to all in the family and we loved and respected him in all of his endeavors, both civilian and military.  He always had time to stop and be friendly and share his experiences with all of us.
At one Gray Hawk reunion he and I had a contest to determine which of us was the best looking and the audience voted.  Of course, he won hands down. And would you believe that some members of my family acutually voted for him instead of me.

We will certainly miss Bill but his spirit and and positive influence will be with us forever.   Our thoughts and prayers are with all of his families.   May God send his richest blessings upon all of you.

Colonel Donald J. Smith, USA (Retired)

OBITUARY

Grover W. Vickers

January 16, 1927 – December 16, 2010

Olinger Funeral, Cremation & Cemetery - Crown Hill

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