William Preston Feaster

Mr. William Preston "Billy" Feaster III passed away on Wednesday, May 8, 2013.
The funeral service was held at 4:30 p.m. Monday, May 13, 2013, at Purity Baptist Church in Blair with Pastor Cliff Dye officiating.
Born in Minneapolis, Minn. on Nov. 24, 1951, he was the son of Winifred Whitener Feaster Fonteneau and the late William Preston Feaster Jr. He was raised by his grandparents, Preston and Bessie Lyles Feaster, in Carlisle.
He loved sports and became a tremendous athlete. He began playing in adult league baseball as a young teenager with the Winnsboro Hornets of the Tri-County Progressive League. He was a star in the league for more than two decades. His love for the game later carried over into officiating and umpiring collegiate, American Legion, high school, semi-pro baseball and softball games.
He graduated from McCrorey-Liston High School in 1969, where he excelled both academically and athletically. His basketball and baseball teams won numerous district and state championships. The caption in his high school yearbook stated, "Billy Feaster is one of the great all-around athletes in the history of the school." After high school he received a basketball scholarship to Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte. He graduated from Newberry College in 1975 after majoring in English. He also played baseball in college and was proud of pitching a no-hitter.
For a brief period he coached basketball at Pageland High School, winning the conference championship. Later he served a tour in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash. and in Berlin, Germany. For several years, he also worked as a roving sports reporter for the Chester News & Reporter. He worked at the Chester County Library for several years, initially driving the county Bookmobile and later as a state certified archivist.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents and his father, William Preston Feaster Jr.
He is survived by his mother, Winifred Whitener Feaster Fonteneau of Carlisle; a special aunt and uncle, Pauline and Reedie McConnell, also of Carlisle; two daughters, Sandi G. Feaster (Kelvin Worthy) of Chester and Allison S. Feaster (Danny Strong) of Clinton, Tenn.; two sons, William P. "Bill" Feaster IV and Terrence J. Feaster, both of Knoxville, Tenn.; four sisters, Sandra Myers (Mike) of Pembleton, N.J., Yvette Hagedorn and Sharlene Jeter, both of Carlisle, and Cathy Smith (Heyward) of Chester; two brothers, Kenneth V. Feaster of Eden, Utah and Charles Fonteneau (Evon) of Cocoa Beach, Fla.; six grandchildren; and a host of special nieces and nephews.