William Threadgill

1923 - 2025

William James "Bill" Threadgill, Sr., passed away on April 30. The family is having a private graveside service, followed by a visitation at Overlook Farm (2193 Highway 45 South; Columbus) at noon, May 10. Bill was born on July 20, 1923, to Burney and Rosie Lee Threadgill. After graduation from Greenwood (Mississippi) High School in 1940, he enrolled at the University of Mississippi. In 1942, he volunteered to join the United States Army as an infantryman, and in 1943 he transferred to the Army Air Force. He was assigned to the Eighth Air Force in England as an aerial navigator on a B-17 crew in World War II, participating in the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes) and the battles of Rhineland and Central Europe. Following his discharge in October 1945, Bill returned to Ole Miss, where he was a member and President of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Bill graduated from Ole Miss in August 1947 and enrolled in the George Washington University Law School, where he graduated in 1949. Bill began practicing law in Columbus, Mississippi, following graduation. There, he met Mary Leslie Farrell, and they married on June 8, 1952. Bill's legal career was long and distinguished. He was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1967 and was a past president of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, a past commissioner on the Mississippi Bar's board of bar commissioners and was appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court to the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions. After his retirement from the law practice, he continued serving as a director of Seminole Manufacturing Company (a total of seventy-one years) and the Owen Foundation. Bill was married sixty-four years to Leslie, who predeceased him. They had four children who all survive him: Leslie Ballard; W. James Threadgill, Jr. (Carol); Burney F. Threadgill (Lee); and Timothy M. Threadgill (Beth). Bill had ten grandchildren: Elizabeth Ballard; Harrison Ballard; Will Threadgill; Charlie Threadgill; Thomas Threadgill; Sarah Dabney Threadgill Petrusnek; Aubrey Threadgill; Brittany Threadgill Whitehurst; Burney L. Threadgill and James C. Threadgill; and fourteen great-grandchildren. The family appreciates the care that Diane Perry, Ivory Hines and the staff at the Traceway Retirement Community Greenhouses provided him. Memorials may be sent to The Leslie Farrell Threadgill Lecture and Art Series, c/o MUW Foundation, 1100 College Street, Box W-1618, Columbus, Mississippi, 39701, or First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, 3200 Bluecutt Road, Columbus, Mississippi, 39701.