William Malone

William H. “Bill” Malone stepped over the border of eternity on Monday, June 29, 2015. That journey began when he was “saved” as a young boy at Ceta Glen Christian Camp, near Happy, Texas.Bill Malone was known as a football official, a banker, a golfer, and a friend of Bill Wilson.Born January 11, 1931, in Plainview, Texas, Bill was the son of R.C. and Bessie May Malone. He was the seventh of nine children. He was raised in Plainview, except for the time his father was pastoring a church in Coolidge, the summer he hitchhiked to Kansas to work the wheat harvest, and the year he lived in Groesbeck with his older sister, Lucille, who was also his school teacher that year.During the Korean War, he served our country in the United States Navy aboard the U.S.S. Everglades. He served for “3 years 7 months and 21 days,” but who’s counting? He learned that he could get an early discharge if he went back to school. He wrote Baylor University and 30 days later he was out of the Navy.Bill’s freshman year at Baylor, Skippy Clemens “pranced into English class wearing a yellow Athenian Sorority pledge dress.” After courting her, working on Athenian homecoming floats, driving many times through Cameron Park and passing the David Clemens brother-in-law test, Bill and Skippy married in 1956. Bill and Skippy graduated from Baylor in 1957 and moved to Midland.Bill worked for Texas Electric until a proposed transfer pointed him to Commercial Bank and Trust as Vice President of Public Relations. He is remembered by many as “the man who gave me my first loan.” Bill earned a Master's degree in banking from SMU School of Business. As Commercial Bank merged with Texas American, Bill continued his career in banking and later worked for the FDIC.While in the Navy, he was assigned to officiate a football game on a Caribbean island between the deck hands and the engineers. He was given a shore badge, a billy club and a whistle. That led to later officiating football in all parts of Texas before being tapped by the Western Athletics Conference.He was named Outstanding Young Man of the Year in 1963 and Midland Centennial Citizen in 1985. He served as President of Midland Jaycees, President of Downtown Lions, and Chairman of the United Way. He also served on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and was one of the founding trustees of Manor Park. He enjoyed volunteering as banker at the Lion’s Pancake Breakfast and worked tirelessly for the Lion’s eyeglasses recycling project.Bill Malone was a long-time member of First Baptist Church and sang with the Faithful Men.Bill is survived by his wife Skippy, son David and his wife Shannon, daughter Robin and her husband Jeff Darr, granddaughters Malone Sams and Elizabeth Darr, a brother Doyle Malone and his wife Jean, a sister Ann Chaddick and her husband Russ, two brothers-in-law Larry Carroll and David Clemens, and many nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by his parents and his siblings; R.C. Malone, Orba Lee Malone, Dawson Malone, Lucille Bailey, Evelyn Wood, and Lecia Carroll.The family will receive friends to celebrate Bill’s life Wednesday, July 1st from 4:30-6:30 at Nalley-Pickle and Welch Funeral Home, 3800 N. Big Spring.A memorial service will be held Thursday, July 2nd at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 2104 W Louisiana.In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to Manor Park, the Paul Malone Scholarship fund at Baylor University, the R.C and Bessie Malone Scholarship at Wayland Baptist College, or the charity of your choice.,