Billy Ray Atkins' Obituary
Loving Dad and “Paw”, Billy Ray Atkins, 84, of Richardson, Texas died on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 1:48 pm. He is preceded in death by his mother, Anna Bell McGrew, his father Raymond Atkins and both sisters, Patsy Fern Lederman and Barbra Joy Baird.He is survived by daughter Kimberly Atkins of Austin; Kelly Atkins and her husband, Keven Hall, of Austin; Debra Atkins and Caylene Caddell of Lubbock; Donna Atkins Gilbert and her husband, Anthony Gilbert, of Plano; grandsons, Coleman Gilbert, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Travis Gilbert and his wife, Shayla Gilbert, and their daughter, Olivia Gilbert— his great-granddaughter of Plano.Born in Addison, Bill attended school there and In Richardson, graduating from Richardson High School in 1950. Soon after that, he attended Henderson County Junior College and McMurry College on a football scholarship, and decades later he was inducted into McMurry’s athletic Hall of Honor for excellence in football and track. He began his career in education as a math teacher and football coach at Morton High School, but he returned home after one year to Richardson’s RISD where he worked in a variety of positions throughout the next 34 years: mathematics teacher; baseball , basketball and football coach; principal; assistant superintendent; and executive director of co-curricular activities. Among the career highlights Bill often most fondly recalled were his formative years as a football coach; serving as the first principal of JJ Pearce High School; enjoying the support and guidance of JJ Pearce himself (a powerful and gentle father figure); and proudly serving all the youth served by a district that put academics before sports.He was a life-long Democrat, and he supported many charities throughout his lifetime including Mercy Ships (mercyships.org) and Smile Train (smiletrain.org). He touched many lives with his generosity and guidance; his staunch belief in justice and equality for all people—especially the poor and those impacted by racism and classism—inspired all of his daughters and helped shape each of their worldviews. He was an athlete and intellectual who loved golf, sports in general, and science. He was moved by all kinds of music often reading lyrics off of liner notes aloud to loved ones and playing particular songs over and over again to everyone’s delight. Bill’s life increasingly became about helping people and also about building and maintaining friendships. One of Bill’s greatest joys of was spending time at Lake Travis on the water.*Those of us here today—his student athletes, colleagues, friends and family—bask in the love we have for him AND in the love he gave to us.
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