WILLIAM "BILL" PICKENS SORRELS SR.
May 24, 1929-Nov. 5, 2015
Mr. William "Bill" Pickens Sorrels Sr., 86, Wadesboro, died Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, at his home.
Services will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, by the graveside in Eastview Cemetery, with Dr. Robert L. Hunter Jr. officiating.
The family will greet friends following the service.
Bill was born in Greenville, S.C., May 24, 1929, a son of the late Clyde Caleb Sorrels and the late Flossie Davis Sorrels, and grew up in Gilkey, N.C., near Forest City.
He was a 1947 graduate of Cool Springs High School in Forest City, and following graduation, he signed with the Boston Braves major league baseball team as a pitcher, and played with its minor league teams until 1950.
In 1950, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving during the Korean Conflict, where he was an instructor in electronics and radar. While in the Air Force, he also played baseball within the Armed Forces League.
In 1954, he enrolled in North Carolina State University under the GI Bill, and later graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematical engineering.
While a student at North Carolina State, it was on a blind date that he met the love of his life, Mary Elinor Covington, who was from Wadesboro and was working for Secretary of State Thad Eure.
Following graduation from North Carolina State, he and Mary Elinor were married, and he worked briefly in Newport News, Va., at the shipyard before being hired to work in the aerospace industry at Pratt and Whitney, outside West Palm Beach, Fla.
In 1967, he began a successful career with IBM in computer programming spanning until 1997.
During his career, he worked in several places, including Houston, Texas, Mountain Lakes, N.J., Jacksonville, Fla., and Raleigh, N.C.
Following his retirement, he worked as a consultant for Food Lion in its computer programming department.
Following his retirement, Bill and Mary Elinor moved to Wadesboro, N.C., in 1990 to care for her mother, Irene King Covington Horton. It was then that they became active again in First Baptist Church, Wadesboro, where he served on various committees including the finance committee.
During that time, he and Mary Elinor were instrumental in the establishment of the Youth Missions Fund for North Carolina Missions.
He was also an active member of Wadesboro Rotary Club and an avid gardener.
Bill was devoted to his family, and will be remembered as a wonderful husband, father and grandfather.
He is survived by his children, Lynn Sorrels Kelly and husband, Barry, of Matthews; son, William "Bill" Pickens Sorrels Jr. and wife, Lisa, of Goldsboro; his grandchildren, Connor and Emma Kelly both of Matthews and Will and Matt Sorrels both of Goldsboro; his brother-in-law, T. Jeff Covington III and wife, Jane, of Asheville; and numerous nieces and nephews and their families.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Elinor Covington Sorrels; brother and sister, Charles Sorrels and Evelyn Sorrels Harrill; and sister-in-law, Barbara Covington O'Flaherty.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, Youth Fund for North Carolina Missions, P.O. Box 423, Wadesboro, N.C., 28170.
The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be made at www.leavittfuneralhomewadesboro.com.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on November 19, 2015 1:51 PM