Bill Connell Sr.

William "Bill" D. Connell, Sr. (1947 – 2008) took his spiritual victory lap, Saturday, May 31 at 9:07 a.m. He was at Northeast Medical Center in Concord. Bill was preceded in death by his father and mother Mr. and Mrs. Demarcus William Connell, and his father-in-law, William McKinley Steedley. Bill is survived by his wife, Sherry Steedley Connell; daughter, Angela; and grandson, Jordan Connell; son, Mark and daughter-in-law, Heather Connell; and his younger sister, Vickie and brother-in-law, Skip Kress. He was also survived by many other loving family members too numerous to name. He attended Celeste Henkel High School in Statesville. Bill was a Vietnam War veteran serving in the U.S. Navy. He was best known for his 34 years of motorsports broadcasting, which included 12 years of producing and hosting his own, regional network television show, The PROS In Motorsports. During his glorious broadcast career, Bill was also cast in three motion pictures, "Last American Hero," "Greased Lightning," and "Stroker Ace." After losing a kidney to cancer in March of 1998, Bill continued to battle his health, which led to his early retirement in May 2003, after the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, where Bill called his final NASCAR event. His family will celebrate Bill's blessed life today, Wednesday, June 4, at 4 p.m at Dayspring Community Church in China Grove. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Dayspring Community Church building fund, P.O. Box 967, China Grove, NC 28023 or The North Carolina Kidney Foundation.