William Albert Scoggins' Obituary
Scoggins, William Albert “Mike” Died on April 13, 2009 in Houston, Texas. Born November 15, 1919 in Memphis, TN to Annie Mae Belote and Richard Cleveland Scoggins, where he grew up and went on to attend Memphis State. He graduated with a degree in Chemistry and Physics and was a member of ‘Sam’s Club’, not the retail outlet of the Walton fame of course, but a literary and scholastic club for science majors. An older friend and member of ‘Sam’s Club’ had gone to work for Sunkist Growers, because there was scant work for chemists and physicists as the depression was ending and Mike followed. However, his name wasn’t ‘Mike’ until he sat for the first and only interview with the big boss: Mr. Duckworth (‘Duck’), who decided he didn’t look like either a ‘William’ or an ‘Albert’,…but definitely looked like his name should be ‘Mike’…and so it became his name for the rest of his life! ‘Mike’ worked for Sunkist for a couple of years, but took a leave of absence when he signed up with the Navy to serve in WWII. Because of his high school participation in the ROTC and his college degree in chemistry and physics he was put on a fast track, earning special engineering degrees at both Annapolis (steam & electrical engineering) and Purdue (diesel engineering) and becoming a 1st Lieutenant during his service in the Navy. During one of his shore leaves, he married his longtime girlfriend and ex-chemistry partner: Lucile Dean Perkins in Houston, TX, spending his honeymoon nights at the historic Rice Hotel in Houston and at the Galvez Hotel in Galveston, TX. What a handsome couple they were…but the honeymoon was short because Mike had to ship out to the south Pacific. Via the Caribbean, he steered his ship, leading 36 other ships down and through the narrow Panama Canal…to spend many hot, blistering days out of the sight of land. Even so, he never lost his love of boats and water. After the war, Mike dutifully returned to his job at Sunkist, getting transferred for brief stints to Atlanta, then Oklahoma City; finally settling in Dallas. After 44 years of selling oranges, lemons and grapefruit, he eventually retired as the Southern Division Manager. (His chemistry and physics came in very handy as he tutored high school and college students in exchange for their babysitting skills with his young family) In his retirement years he remained quite busy golfing multiple times a week, helping his Sasanqua neighbors with miscellaneous jobs and crafting more than 50,000 wooden cars from his work shop. He personally delivered these cars every month to the three main hospitals with special treatment centers for ill children. You might see more than one retail business in the area that has one of his little wooden cars sitting on a desk or a window ledge, as he always carried a couple in his pocket to give away. He loved people, he loved selling, he loved duck tape and he loved Elmer’s glue, with which he could ‘fix’ anything! He is preceded in death by his mother and father, his brother, Kenneth Scoggins and his first wife, Lucile. During his Navy days he and Lucile had a son, who died shortly after birth. He is survived by his sister Dorothy White of Olive Branch, MS, his two daughters: Sandra Lowery of Houston and Karen Greenhut of Phoenix and their husbands. He has 4 grandchildren: Austin, Susan and Gayle Greenhut and Andrew Lowery. He also has 2 great grandchildren: Garret and Caitlyn Greenhut. He is also survived by his ex-wife, Peggy Sullivan with whom he remained friends. Funeral services will be held at 10:00AM on Friday, April 17 in the Wildwood Chapel at Restland. Visitation will be on Thursday between 6:00pm-8:00pm. In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation to a charity of your choice.
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