William Joe Ledbetter

LEDBETTER, WILLIAM JOE, born in Memphis, Tennessee on January 24, 1927, passed away at his home in Montecito, California. He went peacefully in his sleep September 21, 2007 after several months of challenged health. His daughter was with him. Family and friends were nearby. He was the son of Andrew and Jessie Ledbetter.

After serving in the Naval Reserve during World War II, William attended the University of Memphis, the University of Nebraska, and received his law degree at Washington & Lee University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of the Coif. Following graduation, he practiced law as an associate of Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City until he was hired by General Electric Company where he reached the position of Associate Corporate Attorney. From there he moved to Honeywell Inc. where he served as General Counsel. So much of his legal work involved raising money to support the company's venture into the computer business that in the early seventies he changed his emphasis from law to finance and was subsequently employed by Addressograph-Multigraph first as Vice President-Finance and then as Vice President of International Operations with subsidiaries in twenty-three and dealers in one-hundred and ten countries. In 1978, William became Vice President-Finance of Textron Inc., a pioneer conglomerate with divisions involved in more than thirty unrelated businesses. There he became involved in almost all aspects of the Company's business, especially the purchase and sale of discrete business units. He retired from Textron in 1989 as Senior Executive Vice President.

In addition to his business activities William was involved in many charitable and civic activities such as Vice Chairman of the Board of Roger Williams Hospital, Member of the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy, Member of Board of Rhode Island Mental Health Association, Vice President of V. P. Finance Association of Cleveland, President of Minnesota Corporate Counsel Association, and many fund raising activities for United Way, Red Cross and similar organizations.

In 1956, William met and married Shirley Ann Good of Santa Paula, California. As a result of changes in his career the couple lived in several locations including New York City, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Providence, and, thus, developed a wide circle of friends across the country. Upon retirement, they moved to Shirley's birthplace, a lemon ranch in Santa Paula, where they lived until Shirley died in an auto accident in 2005.

William is survived by a son, Gleghn Andrew Ledbetter of Cornville, Arizona and a daughter, Sally Ann Ledbetter of Westport, Massachusetts.

Because William's friends are so scattered across the country, there will not be any single memorial service and those who wish to do so are requested to remember him and celebrate his life in their private way. Gifts in remembrance of him are requested to be made to the Museum of Ventura County or the Good-Ledbetter Scholarship Fund at the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.