In Memory of William "Bill" Pinkley

On April 19, 1992, my father, William Gale Pinkley – better known as Bill, passed away.

We found out Dad had pancreatic and liver cancer about a year before his death. Each day I watched him deteriorate and get sicker and sicker. The few weeks before he died he gave up. He told me he did not have the strength to go on and that he knew I was old enough to take care of myself and my younger brother Brian. A few days before Dad passed, he asked my forgiveness on a few different things.

The night/early morning that Dad passed away I was with him. I had spent the night (and a few nights before) in the same room as him…talking, holding his hand and telling him it was ok to let go. In the final hours I begged God to please take Dad now. Dad was in so much pain he was no longer the man I knew and remembered. When Dad took his final breath, my Aunt Alma (dad’s oldest sister) was there with me. It was very hard to let him go. However, the look on his face after he passed on was very peaceful. Dad looked pain free and happy.

Dad never got to meet my son Colt, but I know that Dad would have loved him very much. Dad was a part of my daughter’s (Vickie) life for three years and he loved her and spoiled her rotten! LOL He always called Vickie his little “rug rat”.

Even 19 years later, we miss Dad. We always wonder what life would have been like if he and Mom were still alive.

We love you Dad! Now, Always and Forever

~Shannon