William D. Pawley Jr.'s Obituary
PAWLEY, William “Bill” Douglas Pawley, Jr. (92) went home to be with the Lord on July 10, 2012. He was born in Marietta, GA on June 21, 1920 to the late U. S. Ambassador William Douglas Pawley, Sr. and Annie Hahr Dobbs. In 1928 the family, then including a younger brother and baby sister, moved to Havana, Cuba where he learned to speak Spanish fluently. Five years later, the family returned to Miami Beach in time for a new baby girl. Bill enjoyed the outdoors here - boating, fishing and water skiing. He graduated from Riverside Military Academy which he attended for six years. Bill was a natural-born engineer, who became a pilot in the Air Force during WWII and flew 138 missions over “The Hump” in the China Burma India theater of war. He saved many lives and planes and was highly decorated for his service including The Distinguished Flying Cross, The Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, The Presidential Citation, and The Chinese Order of the Cloud. After the war, Bill went to work for his father. When he was 28, he became engaged to the late world-famous movie actress Elizabeth Taylor, but they never married. Bill had varied interests, including the oil business, aircraft design and designing & building boats. For a few years, he became involved with Moral Rearmament, a Christian-values-based movement for promoting peace and goodwill around the world, even starring in a movie they made called “Voice of the Hurricane,” about apartheid. He went on to attend Florida Bible College for three years, earning a Divinity degree. Bill went back to work for his father when he was needed for some serious engineering problems at the Talisman Sugar Corporation in Belle Glade. Late in life, he married Catherine “Kitty” (Hundley) Wilmot (d.2002), and became the devoted father to her two children, Charles Wilmot Jr. and Catherine McMillan, of whom he was very proud. Bill leaves behind his devoted sister, Annie-Hahr (Pawley) McKay of Pembroke Pines, with whom he lived for the past ten years, along with niece Margaret McKay and nephew William McKay. Nephew Douglas McKay and his wife Eleanor live in Southwest Ranches, of which he is the Vice Mayor. Bill is also survived by his sister-in-law Eugenia McCrea of Coral Gables, niece Irene Richards and nephew Robert Gravely and cousins, Anita Pawley, Edward & Claire Pawley, Wallace & Gerri Pawley, Mary Jane (Pawley) Neff, Annie Bruce “Bunny” Sager of Sarasota, Joann (Dobbs) Connelly, Louise (Dobbs) Younger of Atlanta, and Barbara (Stanton) Pawley, wife of the late Charles Harrison Pawley, architect. Other members of the family preceded him to be with the Lord including his brother Clifton Dobbs Pawley (d. 1951), sister Irene (Pawley) Baldwin (d. 2008), and Marcia Pawley (d.2011), sister of Anita. Visitation 7 – 9 pm Wednesday, Service 12 noon Thursday at VAN ORSDEL CORAL GABLES CHAPEL.
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