William Killough Lannom

William Killough Lannom, 80, of Grinnell died peacefully March 30, 2025, at the VA hospital in Iowa City.
Bill was born March 11, 1945, to Sharp III and Dorothy (Williams) Lannom and was raised in Grinnell. Bill graduated from Grinnell High School (Class of 1963) and later from the University of Iowa. Following college, he joined the Navy. After attending Officer Candidate School, he attended Small Boat School in Coronado, California. He was sent to South Vietnam where he commanded a river patrol boat. Bill was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor.
Following military service, Bill joined Delong Sportswear, the family business. He supervised a Delong factory in Taiwan. Bill met his first wife, Evalina (Chen) Lannom in Taiwan. Later he became head of sales for Delong in Grinnell.
Bill loved family, football, the Navy, friends, and cars. Once he owned a car, he tended to keep it just adding another garage to house it. Once you were a friend, you were a friend for life.
Some of his favorite times were spent at a lake and cabin in northern Minnesota with family and friends. There was occasionally fishing, but mostly it was swimming, boating, storytelling and cooking. Of course, there was always a project to accomplish.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife Anne (Stokely) Lannom and sons William Lannom of Des Moines and John Lannom of San Diego, California. He is also survived by granddaughters Elle and Mia Lannom and grandson Trey Lannom. Bill will be missed by his brothers Sharp (Linda), Tom and Chad (Susan).
A service of remembrance will be held Saturday, April 26, 2025, at Smith Funeral Home at 10:00 A.M. Bill wanted family and friends to gather, to share, to laugh and maybe to shed a tear.
The family requests no flowers. Donations may be made to the Iowa City Veterans Hospital marked "for palliative care." Donations may also be given to Grinnell Poweshiek Community Foundation "Tigers' Scholarship Fund – in Memory of Bill Lannom."