William Ray "Bill" Bolton

William Ray 'Bill' Bolton went home to be with the Lord Wednesday, January 28. He was born to Ray and Eula Deason Bolton in Sugarland, Texas on September 2, 1932. The family moved to Austin, Texas when Bill was seven years old and he grew up there.

Bill was known for his passionate following of the Texas Longhorns. His first job was collecting bottles after the football games for which he received five cents per bottle. Following graduation from Stephen F. Austin High School in 1950, Bill joined the U.S. Navy. He went to boot camp in San Diego and then SONAR school where he was introduced to electronics which resulted in a life-long involvement in electronics in general and computers specifically. He was assigned to a destroyer and deployed for three tours in the Korean War zone.

After Korea, Bill attended Milwaukee School of Engineering and graduated with an associate degree in electrical engineering. He then moved to California where he went to work for Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation in Van Nuys. In 1956, Lockheed moved to Palo Alto and subsequently to Sunnyvale, California where Bill worked in the Analog Computing department and was assigned to work in the lab supporting the Air Force "Spy in the Sky" project. During this time Bill met his future wife, Suzanne 'Suzi' Bell. They were married on September 15, 1962, in Santa Barbara, Suzi's hometown.

In 1963, Bill and Suzi moved to Huntsville, Alabama where Bill was tasked with setting up Lockheed's computer lab. The couple welcomed their first child, Jeff, in 1964 and his brother, Doug, arrived in 1966. Bill and Suzi quickly became active members of Westminster Presbyterian Church where they were among the 10 couples who started Presbyterian Day School with a total of 16 students. That school became Westminster Christian Academy which now has two campuses and an enrollment of 965.

When Lockheed closed its Huntsville computing lab, Bill accepted a position with Wiley Corporation to work on a special project team supporting the Department of Transportation. Wiley was providing engineering and support for the design and construction of a test facility for trains at the DOT test site near Colorado Springs. This required the team to accept a limited-term assignment to Colorado and the family moved to Colorado Springs. Subsequently, they returned to Huntsville in 1978.

Bill then worked at SAIC doing the kind of challenging and creative work he had desired for years. For the next 20 years, he was involved in designing, integrating and installing medium and large computer systems for industrial applications such as nuclear power and oil and gas pipelines.

Always involved in local churches, Bill and Suzi were members of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Calvary Bible Church, Southwood Presbyterian Church, where Bill served as a Deacon, Central Presbyterian Church and Cornerstone Presbyterian Church. Bill and Suzi traveled extensively visiting 12 countries throughout Europe. Bill made several slide shows of their travels.

Following his retirement in 2000, Bill enjoyed researching genealogy and made several contacts with family members via DNA. In 2013, the Boltons moved to Magnolia Trace where they quickly became active in the retirement community. Bill also enjoyed photography. He put together a slide show honoring Magnolia Trace veterans which is shown each year during Veteran's week.

Bill is survived by his wife of 63 years, Suzi; sons, Jeff (Nancy) and Doug; nephews, Kary Crowell and Kirby Crowell (D'Ann) of Luling, TX; Tom Bell (Rosemary) of Seattle, Washington and Mike Bell (Sandi) of Auburn, California; nieces, Karen Sharp of Rockwall, Texas, Kathy Brown of Palacios, Texas, and Karole Beaslcy of Luling,.

Visitation will be from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. A memorial service will follow at 1:00 p.m. with Rev. Wilson Shirley officiating.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Westminster Christian Academy, PO Box 5287, Huntsville, AL 35814, or Mission Aviation Fellowship, P.O. Box 42, Nampa, ID 35653.