William "Bill" Grady Walton Sr.

William (Bill) Grady Walton, Sr., 96, of Winston-Salem, died Saturday, April 22, at Moses Cone Medical Center.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, April 27, at Hedrick’s Grove United Church of Christ in Lexington by Pastor Joshua W. Rau. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

The family will receive friends preceding the service from 12:30-1:30 in the church sanctuary.

Bill was born January 3, 1927, in Guilford County to Joe Grady Walton and Clara Dailey Walton. He graduated from Pilot High School and later served in the US Army Air Corps. He was employed at Billings Transfer and Hanes Dye and Finishing, retiring from QST Industries in 2000. Bill was a registered private pilot and served as a Captain in the Civil Air Patrol, conducting several search and rescue operations. A longtime avid golfer, at the age of 89 Bill was featured in the Winston-Salem Journal for his most recent hole-in-one. He was a member of Hedrick’s Grove United Church of Christ.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Emma Jean Beck Walton; son, William (Billy) Grady Walton, Jr.; brother, Ronald Jackson Walton; sisters-in-law, Myra McCulloch Walton Zidzik and LaVerne Beck Kepley; brother-in-law, Billy Thomas Beck; nephew Christopher Thomas Beck; and great-nephew Taylor Gray Mathews.

He is survived by his nieces, Tippy Kepley Varner (Nathan) of Lexington, Tracy Walton Livengood (Jimmy) of Thomasville, Ann Marie Walton Baker (Lee) of Hampstead, and Deborah Beck Bayes (Troy) of Simpsonville, SC; nephews, Jeffrey Bruce Walton and Gordon Scott Walton, both of St. Petersburg, FL, and Gregory Scott Beck (Charlotte) of Mooresville; sister-in-law, Anne Caldwell Beck of Concord; great-nephews and great-nieces, James Brendan Varner (Jenny) of Lexington, Katherine Walton Varner Shoaf of High Point, Hunter Thomas Beck of Colorado Springs, CO, Samuel Cole Beck of Greenville, SC, Lauren Anne Bayes of Orlando, FL, Zachary Baker (Channing) of Hampstead, and Derek Baker and Alec Baker, both of Lexington; and longtime housekeeper and personal assistant, Carol Harris.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hedrick’s Grove United Church of Christ, 3840 Allred Road, Lexington, NC 27292.

Condolences may be made at www.davidsonfuneralhome.net