An obituary is defined as the brief biography of a deceased person. A biography is defined as the telling of someone’s life. The task of taking a long, well-lived, event-filled life and turning it into something brief, is next to impossible.

Billie Gene McWhorter, known as Bill to his friends, and he had many, was born on July 12, 1936, and returned to his beloved wife, Bernie, on Oct. 27, 2024. Bill had friends. Not acquaintances. To know him was to be a friend and to be his friend meant being family. It meant being loved and valued and meant he’d do anything for you. And to be clear, he didn’t have to know your name to consider you a friend. If a car was stalled on the road, he’d stop to help. When an ex-employee showed up one bitterly cold day and Bill discovered that he’d walked to the factory, Bill gave the man his car, not to borrow. To keep. When he discovered a homeless man had slept in his van one night after he forgot to lock the door, he made sure he kept the doors unlocked every night so the man would have a place to sleep, and he invited the man inside his shop every morning to use the restroom, to drink coffee with him, and to provide an ear so the man, also named Bill as it turned out, could talk about his life. So he could feel like he mattered in a world that seemed to have forgotten him.

If you knew Bill, you knew that he told the best stories. His life hadn’t been easy, but no work of fiction could stand up to the stories of Bill and his brother Charlie growing up: Bill working three jobs, sleeping in his car for three years, and how devastated he was one Christmas when he’d promised his parents and siblings a holiday worth celebrating, only to find out the “big bonus” he was expecting, was five dollars. A certain young lady who would become his wife helped him, and together, they made Christmas wishes come true.

Not only did he tell the best stories, but Bill was also a collector of them. He kept twenty-dollar bills in the front pocket of his shirt and drove around town looking for people down on their luck so that he could not only give them enough money to buy a meal or two, but he could give them an ear. He could give them the validation of knowing someone cared to hear their story. To acknowledge their humanity.

While tough childhoods are often springboards into bitterness, Bill had none of that in him. There was no one unworthy of his time or concern. And while he did not carry his faith on his sleeve, it was the steel in his character that kept him from worrying about whatever crisis life might throw his way. His faith kept him always focused on how he could be of help to someone else.

Bill and LaVerne were childhood sweethearts and their devotion to each other never waned. He would always say that the best years of his life were the ones totally devoted to caring for her. They raised five children who are still living; William McWhorter, Bryan McWhorter, Chris McWhorter, Greg McWhorter, and Debra Dockter. Bill and Bernie are loved by daughter-in-law and a son-in-law, and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren who will carry their legacy of love and devotion on for generations.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Owen and Oscarine McWhorter, his brothers Owen, Charlie, and Jake, and his sister, Patty. He is survived by his siblings Dave and Jim McWhorter, Sandy Smith, Libby McWhorter-Ahrens, and Ruth Bartuska and sister-in-law Helen Corby.

As his life and character are celebrated, it is worth noting that there is a guardian angel in Heaven who is receiving a well-earned retirement. That angel served Bill very well and his family is very grateful. Rest well dear angel, and thanks for watching over one of God’s best children. He will be missed, but his love will live on.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 am Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at St. Mary Queen of the Universe Catholic Church, Salina. Burial will be in the All Saints Cemetery, Salina. Friends may call at the Ryan Mortuary from 4 until 8:00 pm Tuesday evening where the family will receive friends from 6 until 8 pm and Vigil services will be held at 7:00 pm that evening.

Memorials are suggested to the Salina Rescue Mission.