WILLIAM A. BEGELMAN's Obituary
BEGELMAN, WILLIAM (BILLY), 79, of Miami, passed away on Friday, April 8th. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Donna Lou (Caudell); sons Kurt, Keith and Kent; grandsons Kyle, Justin, Blake, Jacob and Shawn and great-granddaughter, Eliana. Born in Miami at Jackson Hospital on December 23rd, 1936 Billy was raised along with his extended family in Key West, Florida and graduated from KWHS in 1954. He served in the US Army from 1955 to 1956 and was honorably discharged after serving in Greenland and Fort Eustis, Virginia. He attended Embry-Riddle University and graduated with a license in airframe & power plant maintenance in 1959. Upon graduation from Riddle Billy was hired as an aircraft mechanic for Delta Airlines where he worked until his retirement in 1992. A gifted mechanic and fabricator Billy’s hobby was building and fixing automobiles, hot-rods and other high-performance machines. In 1962 he fixed 19-year old Donna Caudell’s automobile and soon after asked her out for a date. They were married at Central Baptist Church of Miami on October 5th, 1963 and moved into their first and only home during their 52 year marriage in Westchester shortly thereafter. In his later years Billy built a replica of a 1933 Ford ‘Vicki’ and a 1934 Ford ‘Shelly’ which were regulars in the local car club shows throughout South Florida. A fixture at the Tamiami Pop Warner program from 1972 to 1997 Billy served as coach, commissioner, equipment manager, treasurer and president to name a few. In addition he served in varied roles within the Greater Miami Pop Warner Conference, South Miami Boys Clubs and Miami Waves girl’s softball teams. Billy was a member of the local Shriners local and will be remembered for his devotion to his family, his commitment to community service and his zest for living with his “choke wide-open”. Services will be held at Van Orsdel funeral home in Kendall on Tuesday, April 12th at 2PM.
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