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Billy Ray Turley
November 25, 1943-November 8, 2016
Billy was born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico. As a 12-year-old young man, Billy played on the winning 1956 Little League World Championship team from Roswell, New Mexico. After graduating from Roswell High School and serving a stint in the Army Reserves, Billy moved to Pasadena, California where he attended Pasadena Nazarene College. Remaining in Pasadena for the next several years he worked in several different fields. He was a Specifications Writer and Manager for CTS Electronics. Later he was selected to be the interim President of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. During his term as president of the chamber he was responsible for scheduling and coordinating two Rose Bowl Parades, two football Rose Bowl games and an Army and Navy Rose Bowl game. Later, Billy moved to the San Diego area where he became Office Manager for Luth & Turley, Inc. and remained in this position until his illness forced his hospitalization. Billy was a strong supporter and member of the San Diego County Law Enforcement Foundation. For 10 years, Billy was the concierge for the foundation’s annual fundraising event where he was responsible for performances of numerous famous guest groups such as The Coasters and the Drifters. For over 35 years, Billy was a member of E Clampus Vitas Platrix Chapter 2 and was appointed to be a member of the governing body “Grey Beards.”
One of Billy’s greatest joys in life was to be a part of coordinating and scheduling what he called the “Gathering.” Each year, a large number of current and prior Roswellites reunite to reminisce and share their friendship at the gathering.
Billy passed away peacefully on November 8, 2016 after a valiant battle against heart failure. He is survived by his daughters, Chantez Cross of Canyon Lake, California; Michelle Engel of Las Vegas Nevada; his beloved grandson, Dylan Kyle Engle of Las Vegas, Nevada and his brother, Cal Turley of La Mesa, California
A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 18, 2016 at 4:00 PM at the El Cajon Mortuary, 684 S. Mollison Ave., El Cajon, CA 92020. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The San Diego County Law Enforcement Foundation by contacting the website SDCLEFF.com
A “gathering” to celebrate Billy’s life will be held at South Park Cemetery in Roswell, New Mexico at 3PM on Saturday, December 3, 2016.
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Rex Booth
Are there any choice words one should say about a good friend? Or enough words expressing what your genuine friendship is? I first met Bill Turley stepping off the old railroad station on east 5th. He and other members of Hondo baseball “all-star” team had just returned from Williamsport, Pa. where their team Won the “1956 Little League World Championship”!! I was one of 5000 Roswell fans who welcomed the “baseball champs” when their train pulled into the station!
Bill and I were casual friends at Roswell High occasionally meeting in the hallways. And speaking of halls, Bill and I shot a good game of Snooker at the local Eight Ball Pool Hall which we frequented. Years later Bill reflected on the game… humorously saying playing pool was a “sign of a misused youth”.
A couple of years after graduating, Bill went to Pasadena, California. Bill and Robert Gilmore subsisted on “Kraft’s macaroni” for three weeks before finding work in Pasadena at Chicago Telephone Company. Bill told a lot of great stories which originated out of that work place. Bill met a French Canadian girl from Maine and married her. Her father owned a Potato Pie store downtown Pasadena. When working for an LPG Corporation,
I transferred from Bakersfield to Los Angeles in 1965. Bill and I became fast friends again. Bill worked for the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce helping plan the annual Rose Bowl Parade and football game. We watched several of those Rose Bowl Parades on Colorado Boulevard. A couple of years later Bill’s brother Cal returned from Nam. All three of us saw a double feature at the drive-n called “A Fistful of Dollars” and ”A Few Dollars More”! The best Western Spaghetti movies ever made!
A couple of years later I transferred to San Diego then north to Monterey and settled in Santa Cruz, Ca. where I formed my own company. Over the years Bill’s family and mine kept in contact visiting at least once a year. One year Bill came to Santa Cruz to buy redwood burl of which he made wall candle lamps and clocks. The trunk of his car was filled with burl up to the brim and half the floor board in the rear. Bill’s influence prompted me to make a large coffee table from redwood burl.
At our 40th RHS Reunion Larry Adams told Bill “we’re getting too damn old joining together only every five years. So Bill suggested that Larry set up a small reunion of friends that next year. Bill kept bugging Larry. Finally, after calling Larry “The Reluctant One”, Larry and Jim Milstead went to work setting the reunion up. Our first reunion called “The Gathering” was held in Las Vegas, NV in 2003. The following year in 2004, the Gathering was in Lake Tahoe, Ca. Eventually the Gathering was held annually at Ruidoso so people wouldn’t have to travel as far. Thanks to Bill, we’ve had 20 years of annual Gatherings!
Bill was a member of the E Vitas Clampus known as the Clampers. He soon obtained a nickname “Snakebite”, given by other Clampers. Bill used to carry a small rubber snake in his coat pocket. He’d be standing with other Clampers in front a bonfire, pull out the snake, and Bill would say “I see a snake”! Bill would then pull a pint bottle of Hiram Walker peach brandy, take a swig, and say “it’s the antidote for a snakebite”! Hence his nickname “Snakebite”.
Bill was a ‘natural’. He had an amazing recall of events, places, statistics, and trivia. Bill’s quick wit and sense of humor made him star at our reunions! I am proud to have been friend of Bill Turley aka Snakebite.