William Walling

WINTER HAVEN -- Mr. William R. "Bill" Walling, who was a football and basketball coach, science teacher and assistant principal for curriculum during a long career as an educator, died at home of heart disease Tuesday (March 9, 2004). He was 78. He was born in Springfield, Tenn., on May 5, 1925, and excelled as an athlete in his hometown. He played quarterback on the football team was selected to the all-state team, said his wife of 23 years, Carolyn A. Walling. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Tennessee, but suffered an injury that left him unable to play. He graduated from Austin Peay University in Clarksville, Tenn., obtained his master's degree from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and later did graduate work at the University of South Florida. Mr. Walling coached football and girls' basketball in Tennessee before moving to Miami, where he taught junior-high and high school science. He came to Lakeland in 1970 and began his career with the Polk County School Board, teaching science at Dennison Junior High School. After two years of teaching, he was promoted to assistant principal for curriculum, a position he held until his retirement in 1986. After he and his wife wed, the family moved to Winter Haven in 1981. Following their retirement, they enjoyed spending summers in Maggie Valley, N.C. "We were up in North Carolina for the last 12 years in the summers and we would deliver for Meals on Wheels there. We had a cabin in Maggie Valley. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time. He loved to travel and he loved to fish," Carolyn Walling said. Mr. Walling was a member of American Legion. He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Winter Haven. Mr. Walling is also survived by his daughters, Lynn Robles, Alyson Walling and Meredith Wren, all of Los Lunas, N.M., Camilla Gordon, Beaver Dam, Ky., and Susan Andis, Colorado Springs, Colo.; stepson, Kevin Alsup, Jacksonville; stepdaughters, Kimberly Joiner, Orange Park, Kelly Balagia, Winter Springs, and Katrina Gaines, Orlando; brother, Russell Walling, Union City, Tenn.; sister, Shirley Browning, Clarksville, Tenn.; and 14 grandchildren. Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at Calvary Baptist Church in Winter Haven. Services will follow at 11 a.m. at the church. Burial will be in Lakeside Memorial Park, Winter Haven. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Calvary Baptist Church building fund, or Good Shepherd Hospice, Auburndale. Steele's Family Funeral Services, Winter Haven.