William Oscar Zollicoffer Jr's Obituary
William Oscar Zollicoffer Junior was born May 18, 1939, in Dallas, Texas. Bill, as he was known by most of his friends and family, was the oldest of two children. His brother Jimmy Ray was 5 years younger.
His father, Bill Senior was known as “Zolly” and was a Line Foreman for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, and his mother Neoma had been part owner of a Café in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas.
Bill was born during World War II and at the end of the Great Depression when times were very turbulent. Parts of Oak Cliff were still rural back then. Bill’s family had cattle and chickens to help provide meat, eggs, and milk. Bill’s memoirs speak about the dense woods near their home and how he and his friends enjoyed playing in them. The woods were on a tract of land bordered by Corinth Street, Berwick Avenue, and Stella Street and they have since been replaced by homes. Bill spoke of hearing the lions at the nearby Marsalis Zoo roar at night and how it would make the little woods seem much larger.
He graduated from W. H. Adamson High School in June of 1957 as a Member of the National Honor Society. His quest for excellence was evident in every facet of his life. He never went to college, but he applied the principle found in Proverbs 22:29 “Have you seen a man skillful at his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before common men.” During Bill’s secular career, he often found himself in the company of dignitaries and corporate executives.
Bill began his career as a Draftsman for Fritz W. Glitsch, Inc. He then went to work for Trinity Steel Company (Trinity Industries, Inc.) becoming the Chief Engineer, and helped write some of ASME’s codes for pressure vessels. He then moved to Otis Engineering, Inc. (Halliburton Industries, Inc.) becoming Vice President of Quality. After a brief retirement, he returned to Trinity and became Senior Vice President of Quality until his retirement there.
His hobbies included playing guitar, riding motorcycles, boating, fishing, camping, traveling, construction projects and feeding the animals around his home. In 1970 he purchased eighty acres of wooded property in Oklahoma. It no doubt reminded him of the woods in Oak Cliff where he grew up.
For all his secular endeavors, he never forgot the true source of his success. His Family’s first contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses was when his father repaired a telephone at the home of an
older sister in Grand Prairie and she gave him a copy of Let God be True. His father pitched the book on the dashboard of his work truck and forgot about it. In a few days, he came home to find the sister and his wife on the front porch studying from the book. Bill said that he was personally touched by the scripture in Isaiah 11:6 about peace amongst the domestic and wild animals and that “a little boy will lead them.” He wanted to be that little boy. He was soon studying the Bible and was baptized July 15, 1955 when he was only 16 years old during the “Triumphant Kingdom” International Convention at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. He was one of the 468 baptized there that day.
He gave his first public talk, July 7, 1957 when he was 18 years old.
On Jan 9th, 1960, he met Sandra Walker on a blind date. He asked her to marry him Jan 23, and they got married April 2, 1960. Even though the courtship was very short he said it was like they knew each other forever since they both shared the same faith in Jehovah. Sandra, looking like a movie star with her curly black hair and green eyes and Bill, 6ft 2 in tall with his red hair and blue eyes, made them quite a striking pair.
Together, they had a son, Bill III and a daughter, Lisa. They went on numerous vacation trips and outings, often centered around assemblies and conventions held in various parts of the country. The family got to enjoy Field Service outings in the rural areas around Flower Mound, Argyle and Lewisville. Their home was open to many visiting brothers and sisters through the years.
Over the years, he had the privilege to serve as a ministerial servant and then as an elder. In 1974, he served on the building committee for the Kingdom Hall in Lewisville, TX where it was located upstairs in an old bank building on the corner of Main and Mill Street. The City Council may have thought it would discourage the project when they required the brothers to have a fire escape for using the second floor as a meeting room. But with Jehovah’s help, Bill drew up the plans and got all the proper signoffs to have it built. It was the first fire escape in Lewisville and is still there today.
He counted it a special privilege to be able to attend the Elders School in 1981. But he was also happy to support Sandy during the time she was able to join in the pioneer work and glad when she was finally able to attend pioneer school in 1990 after dealing with some health issues.
Bill and Sandra were married faithfully for over 58 years until Sandra died. He loved her very much. He would talk of her daily and even wrote songs for her after her death.
After Sandra became ill and before she died he stayed with her and listened to the meetings on Live KH on Roku. They were both so encouraged by the comments of the other brothers and sisters...especially the children. Brothers and Sisters came by to visit them and brought their children as well. After losing his wife, the first place he wanted to be was at the Kingdom Hall in person.
He grew close to several families in the congregation. He loved all the brothers and sisters in the congregation but it was still the heartfelt comments from the children that were so encouraging to him since it reminded him of his first love for Jehovah as a child. He loved to get hugs and handshakes from his friends and the young people. He enjoyed the field ministry but, due to illness, although he tried, he was not able to go from house to house anymore. Meanwhile, he shared his faith with everyone he met because he cared about them. He also joined in when others were doing letter writing or telephone witnessing.
The global Covid-19 Pandemic opened a new opportunity to him, namely daily field service via Telephone Witnessing. It did not matter how tired or sick he was, if he was able to speak, he would call his neighbors and bring them the good news about the Kingdom. He got to Auxiliary Pioneer multiple times and even during the last campaign and Circuit Overseer visit just before his death. One bitter-sweet moment was when Lisa turned in his last Field Service Report complete with a Bible Study after his death.
Bill is survived by his loving family:
Brother: Jimmy Ray Zollicoffer and wife Claudia
Son: William Oscar Zollicoffer III and wife Yvonne
Daughter: Elizabeth Zollicoffer Doyle and husband Robert
Grandchildren: Tony, Chris, Christa, Amanda, Thomas, William IV, Alexandria, and Aaryanna.
Great grandchildren: Caitlin, Jocelyn, Matthew, Cayden, Jessica Nicole, Peyton, Arissa, Ava, Emma, Jack, Jacob, Jesse, Camila, and Joel on the way.
Sister-in-law Roberta Ann Rawlins and many Nephews and Nieces.
...Also, all his Brothers, Sisters, Children, Grandchildren, and Great Grandchildren in the World Wide Christian Brotherhood.
He loved us all so much and he always made sure we knew it every single day. He set a sterling example in showing appreciation and love.
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