William Thomas Gunn III

5 August, 1940 - 28 May, 2025

Born in Clovis, New Mexico, William Thomas Gunn III, called by his nickname "Bill" throughout his life, was known for his razor-sharp mind, his loyalty, his ambition and drive, his insatiable thirst for knowledge, his huge generosity, a lot of mischief and the love of a really good laugh. He was fiercely proud of his Viking and Scot lineage. Through the tireless work of Bill's brother Abb, who was a genealogist, the Gunns traced their ancestors to pre-800 A.D., to the Orkney Islands and the kings of Norway. Over time, they filtered through the Highlands of Scotland to pre-Revolutionary America. Bill was directly descended from a famous, decorated Revolutionary war hero, Colonel Rueben Gunn.

As a teen, he was raised by his maternal grandfather, cattleman Abner French on his ranch in eastern New Mexico. Bill told many stories of growing up in small-town Elida, and then in Lovington. Some of the more notable hi-jinks included various animals. One time there was a skunk thrown into the fan of the girls' locker room, another time a sickly, milk-fed calf was borrowed off Grandad French's ranch and tied to the high school Principal's desk all weekend, and there was the infamous parrot down the street who would squawk, "Bill Gunn come home, Bill Gunn come home!" because the bird heard Bill's mother, Anita, yelling for him every evening to come home for dinner. However, the tale he enjoyed telling the most was the one where he flipped six pickups in one summer and his grandfather's subsequent reactions. He would proudly relay this tale like it was the pinnacle of his delinquent youth and said Grandad French would shake his head and proclaim that, "No matter how bad you are, Bill, you could never be as bad as me." This only spurred him on, of course.

His high school years were not all misspent, however, as he went on to lead a championship football season as quarterback for Lovington High School in 1957 and 1960. In addition, he was an All-State Track & Field champion in the 400 meters and an amateur Golden Gloves boxer throughout high school. After high school graduation, Bill attended Eastern New Mexico University on a track scholarship for his first year while he worked on admission to the United States Naval Academy. Bill received a Senatorial appointment and entered Annapolis as a first-year plebe. Upon graduation, Bill had the honor, at the time, as one of only six in the USNA's history to graduate without a single demerit. However, it wasn't because he had straightened out, he just never got caught misbehaving!



Bill met his future wife Peggy, of almost 50 years, on a blind date set up by friends while she was a sophomore attending Goucher College. It was, at the time, an all-woman's college, in Towson, Maryland. One could safely say they fell madly in love that first night. Bill and Peggy dated for a couple of years, and then were secretly married by the Naval Academy chaplain because Peggy hadn't graduated yet by 1 May, 1965. Because of the date's significance, they used the term "Mayday" in times of upheaval and stress, and whenever things needed to cool down, which was a play on the word both for the military distress signal and the date they were married.

Bill, who was in the Fighter Pilot Training Program, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He then served three years as an officer, with the rank of Lieutenant, on the aircraft carriers the USS Lloyd Thomas and the USS Okinawa during the Vietnam War. He distinguished himself during this time and was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Expert Rifle Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. Bill also completed training in ASAC-AIR, Emergency Ship-handling, Amphibious Indoctrination and Cargo Handling. While stationed at the Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Bill and Peggy excitedly welcomed their first-born Ceecy into the world.

Having completed his tours of duty, Bill was honorably discharged, applied and was accepted to M.I.T. and Harvard's Business School but decided to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas because not only was SMU a top business school but he could enter into Trammel Crow's junior partner program if he did well. Not to shirk a challenge, Bill graduated cum laude with a Master of Business Administration in Real Estate Development in 1970. In conjunction with his plan of study, he taught real estate development and finance undergrad night courses at SMU and worked full-time at the fledgling Texas Instruments as an Electrical Engineer on their Super Computer.

Bill jumped into the Trammel Crow real estate world as a junior partner and learned everything Trammel could teach him about land development. Bill and Peggy had purchased twenty acres on Greenville Avenue in Dallas where Bill enjoyed his hobbies like raising bees and harvesting honey, he trained several hunting dogs, taught three year-old Ceecy to ride her pony Cocoa, and also let her practice driving the car while sitting in his lap, all the way up the mile-long driveway up to the house, which he described with a grin, was like being with a mini drunk-driver.



Little sister Carey was born a bit early, arriving on 1 January, 1969, at the Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Bill complained good-naturedly for many years that he missed the window where she could've been a write-off, but even worse, he missed the NFL playoffs between the Vikings and the Baltimore Colts!

In 1970, Bill, Peggy, Ceecy and Carey left Dallas for the sweet little college town of Austin. Trammel Crow had given Bill the mandate to learn everything about municipal utility districts (MUDs) and to develop a few subdivisions in far South Austin starting with the old Slaughter Ranch, and it created what is known as Slaughter Lane today. Bill then moved on to independently plan the developments of Meadowbrook and Tanglewood Forest. Bill and Trammel Crow went separate ways in 1974 but Bill just kept going, developing many subdivisions over the years, making his way up and along Loop 360 as well as many other developments within Westlake, the City of Austin, as well as Hays, Bexar, Travis and Williamson Counties. Growing up around a land developer meant that nothing ever remained static and that everything was always in flux. Bill taught Ceecy and Carey the value of the dollar: it could be there one year and gone the next, which happened with every boom or bust. Through many trying times and even all-night hearings with the City and County to navigate the ever-changing landscape of environmental laws and policies over the years, he came to live by at least one very tried-and-true adage that he also readily shared with others: don't let them do to you politically that they can't do legally. His other favorite saying was "illegitimi non carborundum", a saying to which he attributed to his first tough couple years at Annapolis.

Not content with the extraordinary challenges of being a land developer in one of the more difficult markets in the country, Bill also decided to pursue oil and gas drilling in the '80's, becoming a wildcatter, but only after reading every important book on geological exploration and drilling techniques. Topics like seismic imaging, well planning and reservoir engineering became commonplace thoughts and conversation for him. He even dragged his sixteen year-old daughter Ceecy to oil company meetings so she could learn the business, creating a drilling company for her called "Nada Peso Drilling Company". He developed his oil and gas interests up until about 2010.

Bill and Peggy were long-time season ticket holders and patrons of the Austin Symphony which gave them a wonderful music and social outlet and connections with many of their dear friends were made that way. As well, Peggy served as the Development Director for over twenty years, raising major funds and community awareness for the Austin Symphony. For many years, to kick off the Austin Symphony concert for the 4th of July fireworks celebration, Bill acted as liaison for the Navy's F-16 jets, directing the pilots and transmitting the coordinates for their exciting fly-bys. This started off the yearly celebration and really got the crowd going.

Religion was an important aspect of Bill's life. He served on the vestry of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in the 1980's and attended St. David's Episcopal Church for the last twenty years. Notably, he was deeply involved in the future of St. Stephen's Episcopal School and served on the Board of Trustees for several years. In the 1980's, he re-built their middle school, and because of their thoughtful involvement, it was named Gunn Hall in his and Peggy's honor. He also gave St. Stephen's two new athletic fields and a running track, which was a source of great pride for him. For many years, there was a fun-run race called the "Gunn Relays" where he shot off the starter pistol to kick off the activities.

Bill discovered cycling after he finally quit smoking for the last time, around age 60. He cycled many miles and competed in a number of road races. There were several accidents with tree branches and asphalt, which hastened his transition to working out in the gym, working out with weights almost daily for the last ten years. Probably 15 years were added to his lifespan because he was so active. Anyone who knew Bill knew it was impossible for him to sit still for very long.

To celebrate a life well-lived, there will be a service and reception honoring Bill, for family and friends on 30 June, 2025 at 3 o'clock. It will be held at Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home, 5416 Parkcrest Drive, Austin, TX 78731.

Bill is survived by his daughter, Christina French Gunn Robinson, better known as "Ceecy", her husband, George E. Robinson III and their two sons, Bremond Gunn Robinson and Reed Mallory Robinson. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Marguerite Spence Gunn "Peggy", his loving daughter, Carey S. Gunn, his brother, Abb L. Gunn and his parents, Anita and Wade Gunn. Bill was a proud grandfather to Bremond and Reed and a step-grandfather to Anna Robinson Petcov (Scott) and George E. Robinson IV "Joe" (Rachel).

Bill's family would like to thank Trinity Hospice who provided comfort to Bill in his final weeks, and especially Terri Rodriguez, his loving nurse and Arianna Barron, whose sweetness and kindness made his last days so much better.