Bill L. Nutter

Bill L. Nutter, 90, passed away comfortably and gracefully on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Conway, the hometown he loved and with the family he adored at his side. He left a legacy of love and kindness to all he knew, and even many he did not, in the nine beautiful decades of his life.

Billy Lynn Nutter began his fruitful, impactful life on May 4, 1935, as the third of eight children that blessed the late John and Naomi Nutter. They instilled in him and his siblings the values of compassion, determination, and dignity. Those traits, and so many others, carried him through a successful career in education and athletics. His honors are numerous, including induction into the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor in 2001, and the Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2008, and several coaching honors bestowed upon him.

After graduating from Conway High School in 1953, he stayed home for four years at Hendrix College where he lettered in track, football, and basketball. Prior to his graduation in 1957, he married the love and center of his life, Virginia Henry, on June 10, 1956 at Greene Chapel on campus.

From there, his coaching and teaching career spanned nearly 25 years across Conway Public Schools, North Carolina State, and Central Arkansas. He obtained his doctorate in kinesiology from the University of Arkansas. Virginia obtained a master's degree from the University of Central Arkansas and began her own prestigious career as a teacher and counselor in Conway Public Schools.

Bill's students, athletes and colleagues respected "Coach Nutter" immensely, a testament to an imprint he left upon thousands far and wide. He retired from UCA in 1981, as unselfishly as ever, to spend more time with his family, consisting of his daughters, Ginny Nutter Wood of Little Rock and Julie Nutter Johnson of Conway, and his grandson Beau Wilcox, born to Julie in 1977. He and Virginia became known as "Pop" and "Nan," roles they relished, and put these three first in their lives together. Ginny and Julie both became successful UCA students and graduates themselves, forging their own lengthy careers in education and making their parents proud as they always did.

In his retirement, he and Virginia sold Shaklee health products, which they sold to customers who became valued friends the minute the relationship formed. They fully retired from that venture in the late 1990s and began a happy, beautiful post-career life together, which featured traveling with family or on their own, scores of graduations and ballgames and many meals together at their favorite haunts or at their cozy residence on Shady Lane Drive in Conway, where Bill lived 50 blissful years before moving to his final home at StoneBridge in Conway and was treated incredibly well there until the very end. Pop's final days under the watchful and attentive eyes of Conway Regional Medical Center and Gentiva Hospice were content, and the family thanks them and his longtime, devoted caregiver, Jason Hannah, for their collective efforts in allowing Pop to live out his final days and years in comfort and peace after Virginia's passing in October 2017.

He was also preceded in death by John and Naomi, and his beloved older siblings Johnny Nutter and Marybeth Powers. He is also survived by his great-grandsons, Beau's children Graham Benjamin Wilcox and Hayes Barrett Wilcox, and five truly treasured siblings, Leroy Nutter, Gary Nutter, Shirley Joffs, Dale Nutter, and Pam Balentine. In addition, he loved and kept close to his heart the spouses of his daughters and grandson, David Wood, Gil Johnson and Shannon Wilcox.

The family is grateful for the outpouring of genuine love and support and looks forward to welcoming family and friends at Greene Chapel at Hendrix College, where his and Virginia's journey officially began, on Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 1 p.m. This celebration of his amazing life shall be followed with fellowship after the ceremony.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Faulkner County Humane Society, as Nan and Pop were lovers of all creatures, great and small.

Online guestbook: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/conway.