William Ponciano Sanchez

William Ponciano Sanchez was born to Jose V. Sanchez and Josefa M. Sanchez on February 10, 1951, in Detroit, Michigan, where he lived until March of 1960 when his family moved to Houston, Texas. He was the first of three children (William, Mary, and Jose Jr.). He attended elementary schools in Detroit and Houston followed by Hogg Junior High School and John H. Reagan High School (now known as Heights High School), where he was a member of the ROTC. During high school, he met his best friend, Charles "Charlie" Landrum, and his first wife, Linda Anne Flood (now Vaughan). William and Linda married in 1968 and had a son, Benjamin Kirke Sanchez, in May of 1969. William named his son after founding father Benjamin Franklin. After their divorce, William married Carla Landrum, sister of his best friend Charlie, in October of 1970. They stayed married for over 50 years, until Carla's passing in April of 2022. With the help of his father, William joined the local construction union and became a carpenter apprentice. He worked his way up through the construction industry, becoming a superintendent at Turner Construction in the early 1980s. William and Carla then moved to Connecticut, where he built a hotel on time with a group of 350 various craftsmen, engineers, and superintendents, a feat which had not been done in the prior 19 years in Connecticut. William started his first construction business, ChrisBen Corporation, named after his son Benjamin and Benjamin's brother, Christopher Neil Vaughan. William thereafter returned to the workforce by moving to Miami, Florida, to work as the Construction Project Manager for Jaymont Management, overseeing the renovation of an office building in downtown Miami. He also became a certified General Contractor, licensed by the State of Florida. Wanting to return home to be closer to their family, William and Carla moved back to Houston in time to see Benjamin graduate college and start law school. Upon his return, William managed the renovation of Allen Center, a group of office buildings in downtown Houston. I n 1996, Benjamin helped his father form Oxford Builders, Inc., which would become William's ultimate legacy. William was dedicated to safety on the job, diversity, and inclusion. He won several awards and received several honors during his tenure as Founder and President of Oxford Builders. William and Carla eventually sold Oxford Builders to the employees in 2020, after which William retired to take care of Carla during her final illness. Because of his love for and dedication to Carla, it was only apropos that William collapsed at Carla's memorial service in June of 2022, thus starting the slow slope to his own death due to cancer on February 6, 2025. William never attended college, but he was very proud of his acceptance to and graduation from the Goldman Sachs 10000 Small Businesses Program. William was a self-made leader in the construction industry and enjoyed deep friendships with people such as Charles Landrum, Loyd and Denise Jones, Don Matthews, Steve and Karen Lewis, and others. He was active in the Associated General Contractors of America, Inc., Houston Chapter, and the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Greater Houston. William was a humanist who was full of ambition and adventure. He loved being an entrepreneur and mentoring others. He enjoyed being outdoors, whether it was biking across the country in his younger years, fishing, boating, kayaking, or just being in and near water. William was also an award-winning and published photographer. William preferred music over television, and for years, he and Carla lived with no television in their home and instead always had music playing in the background, whether it was classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Queen, Styx, or more international music, such as reggae, Indian, African, and other world music. William also loved artists that defied genres, such as Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Van Morrison, and Devo. William much preferred movies on the big screen to shows on television and thus appreciated the James Bond movie series (especially considering he had read all the Ian Fleming books as a young boy), Lawrence of Arabia, Zorba the Greek, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Eraserhead, and Alphaville, just to name a few. William and Carla were pet lovers (William preferred dogs and Carla preferred cats). William's most special pets were his two Beagles: Auda (named for whom many considered the real hero of the Arab revolt depicted in the movie "Lawrence of Arabia"), who was his companion as a young adult, and Ghandi, who was with him when he became ill at the end of his life (Ghandi is happily living with Mary and George, William's sister and her husband). Despite stopping all cancer treatment in November of 2023, William lived another 15 months, until he passed on February 6, 2025. William confided in Benjamin that he didn't think he would live to see 2025 but that he was proud of his legacy and ready to see Carla again. Friends, family, coworkers, and employees mourn William's loss, whose void in their lives is palpable. We miss you and love you very much, William, Dad, Brother, Uncle, Nephew, and Friend! William passed away from cancer on February 6, 2025. William is preceded in death by his father, mother, and wife of over 50 years, Carla Sanchez. William is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Benjamin and Diana Sanchez, sister and brother-in-law, Mary and George Williams, their son, Brett Williams, and their daughter and son-in-law, Laura and Joe Lopez III, his brother and his partner, Jose Sanchez Jr. and Chris Vandeford, his aunt, Maria Morin, and Linda Vaughan, Raul Reyes, and Christopher Vaughan