William Earl "Bill" Reep

1931 - 2021

William "Bill" Earl Reep

May 21, 1931 - October 1, 2021

William "Bill" Earl Reep passed away peacefully, at his genuine 1790s log-home, he rebuilt 45 years ago, after it was disassembled and moved from York County, S.C. His loyal dog, Leroy, was by his side.

Born at the family home on Dysartsville Rd., he was the first of three children to Dave and Jennie Gurley Reep.

He worked early on the farm and was the epitome of exuberance. He received 12 years of perfect attendance at Glen Alpine School. Sports and school were the only moments Pete the mule got unhitched from the plow. When Bill was a senior he asked his future wife, Una Christine Smith, to whom he has been married 67 years, to the Fall Football Banquet.

He was class President, turning the Washington, D.C. class trip tradition on its head, changing it to a beach trip to Daytona, where a large percentage of the class saw the ocean for the first time.

Voted senior superlative, Most Athletic, he was born to play ball, every year as the spring winds fall, he would get that ol' longing for the words to "Play Ball." He pitched for the 12th Air Force Baseball team in Germany. The games were broadcast on "Armed Forces Network," all over Europe.

He entered the U.S. Air Force, Summer of 1949, with an honorable discharge December 1952. Some years later, Bill returned to Germany to show family members and dear German friends where he was stationed and explored. His main job in the Air Force was working with the First Radio Relay Squadron in the early Cold War years of the 50s, establishing communication back to the United States from Germany.

After marriage to Una, he built their first little house on Air Park Drive in Carbon City, while working at the Carbon Plant for eight years. Then he was accepted into the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and moved to Charlotte where the family lived 14 years.

He served in Chapel Hill at The Institute of Government, teaching pursuit driving, defensive tactics, and other skills that saved the lives of working State Troopers. Upon investigating a wreck, he met Buck and Buddy Baker of NASCAR, serving as their gas can man in the pits and enjoying racetrack life in the 1960s. Many recipients, of citations he wrote, became his lifelong friends, as he was a true character and collector of life experiences. President Kennedy gave him a salute as Bill guarded his parade route.

At 41, he took a big chance and started his own company, Reepco Inc., performing tower maintenance and installation for Bell Telephone Systems. He made lifelong friends all over the South, driving hundreds of thousands of miles in work trucks heaving with strapped steel and ropes alongside his crew, nephews, sons and grandsons. Returning to Burke County in the Bridgewater community, near Lake James, living there until present day

Bill and his band entertained for the 4th of July celebration in Glen Alpine for 40 years. He sang old classic country songs as a young man, learning to play the guitar in his 30s.

Walking through the kitchen once, he said, "done it again!" He had read the bible through for the third time. Baptized in Bennett Shoals, he was a loyal church congregant his entire life, a Christian man who yes, did get in trouble at 12, for drinking all the sacrament wine at Bethel Methodist.

Bill's family will expand in a few days with a great-grandson, Barrett Allen Reep. Bill is survived by his daughters and sons, Roxy (Rusty), Bart, Dave (Teresa) and Jennifer (Jason); grandchildren, Stewart, Justin, Reagan, Morgan, John Paul, Jonathan and Dylan; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

He was very patriotic, loved his country and very proud to be an American.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Bill's memory may be made to First Baptist Church Missions.

The funeral will be held at First Baptist Church in Morganton, Saturday, Oct. 9, with Dr. Thomas A. Bland officiating. Visitation will be at 10 a.m, in the Parlor, followed by a funeral service at 11 a.m., in the sanctuary. A military graveside service will follow at Bethel United Methodist Church, on Dysartsville Rd. Old Time Picking and Grinning to follow at Bill's home. Join if you like.

Sossoman Funeral Home

www.sossomanfh.com