Arnold William "Bill" Kleinebecker III

Arnold William "Bill" Kleinebecker III was born on January 1st, 1967, in Boston, Massachusetts. He died on May 11, 2024, in Austin, Texas, at the age of 57, after being diagnosed with metastatic cancer in October 2023. He remained so incredibly strong, and positive throughout the last seven months of his life, which is exactly the same way he lived his life, every day.

Bill grew up in Connecticut and upstate New York and moved with his family to Austin in 1985, where he attended Westwood High School. He also attended Blinn College in College Station.

From the time Bill was young he was a hard worker. In New York he had jobs ranging from parking golf carts, to a "soda jerk" at an ice cream parlor. In addition, he also worked at a lumberyard where he discovered his love of woodworking and passion for carpentry. Bill also waited tables at the iconic Texas Tumbleweed Restaurant when he was in high school and later started his own LLC, BeckerWorks B³.

He was beyond gifted when it came to working with his hands, and he worked in various aspects of the building trades industry for many years. There were very few things he could not build or repair. Bill spent the last 10 years working for the Texas State Preservation Board (TSPB), where he was promoted to managing a team maintaining the State Capitol Building and Governor's Mansion, as well as other properties in the Capitol Complex.

Bill, along with his family and friends, enjoyed many activities together. Everything from camping, water and snow skiing to hunting and fishing. He enjoyed running and participated in many 5K and 10K races. He also enjoyed cooking very much. He was an expert at frying turkeys, crawfish boils, and barbequing.

Bill was a fun loving honorable man, with a strong sense of right and wrong. He recognized the good in others, and helped them see it in themselves. There is no doubt Bill had a heart as big as Texas.

Bill is survived by his wife of 22 years and 11 months, Leslie, and their sons Gavin and Sidney. He is also survived by his parents Bill and Ann Kleinebecker, his sisters Lyn (David) Purdy and Noelle (Ian) Sargent, his brother Carl (Russell Anderson) Kleinebecker, his mother-in-law Ann Perez, his brother-in-law Allen (Jessica) Perez, two nieces, nine nephews, a large extended family, and a host of treasured friends. He will be greatly missed.

Graveside services will be held at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, 2800 Hancock Drive Austin, Texas 78731, on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at 11:00 AM CT.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Hospice Austin's Christopher House.

Arrangements by Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home. (512) 335-1155.