William James Edward "Bill" McFarland, 82, passed away peacefully on June 19, 2019, surrounded by his family.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his loving wife of 60 years, Shirley Behrendt McFarland. He is survived by his daughters Tammy Lynn (George) Childress and Konnie Lee Schutz, his grandchildren Donald "Donnie" (Lauren) Childress, Kaitlyn "Katie" and Kourtney Schutz, and his great granddaughter Caroline Childress. He is also survived by his two devoted sisters Kathleen Williams and Darlene Knolle and several nieces and nephews.

Bill was born February 13, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of James and Elizabeth Florence Birrell McFarland.  The McFarland family moved to Houston in 1943.  Bill was an Eagle Scout, a member of the Order of the Arrow and Sea Scout - Ship 16, with Regattas at The Houston Yacht Club . He graduated from Austin High School in 1954 where he was a member of ROTC and he continued his education at the University of Houston where he was a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, making lifelong friends of LaRoy Hammer and Ron Coker. While at U of H he loved being involved in the annual Frontier Fiesta festivities.

He traveled the world as an employee of Stewart and Stevenson Services. He began his career as a Draftsman and then soon was the Drafting Supervisor. For some time he supervised technical publications. For many years until his retirement in 1995 he was General Operations Manager.

He married his great love, Shirley Ruth Behrendt on June 20, 1959 at Sunset Methodist Church of Pasadena.  Bill and Shirley made Pasadena home for many years and it is where they raised their family. In their retirement, they made a permanent move to Galveston in early 2000. The move allowed them to enjoy their beloved beach each and every day.  As permanent Galveston residents, Bill and Shirley were longtime members of Tiki Island Chapel.

Bill and Shirley followed their favorite sports teams, the Rockets and the Texans. And rarely did they miss a Mardi Gras – the funnel cakes were always on the agenda, even more than the parades and the "throw me some beads, mister" beads.  They loved taking ocean cruises and Bill was a longtime supporter of the Pachyderm Club.    But most of all he loved being a son, brother, father, grandfather and, with the arrival of Caroline, a great grandfather.

He will be missed by all who loved him – his family and his friends, particularly his MACH 4 friends of over 60 years.

A celebration of Bill's life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, 2019 at the Tiki Island Chapel with a reception to follow in the Fellowship Hall.

The family requests in lieu of flowers that an expression of sympathy be made by a memorial contribution in his name to one of Bill's charities, or charity of your choice:

Tiki Island Chapel, 835 Tiki Dr., Tiki Island, TX, 77554 https://tikiislandchapel.com/

The Galveston Bay Foundation, 1100 Hercules Ave., Suite 200, Houston, TX  77058 https://galvbay.org/ways-to-give/by-donating-or-joining/honor-and-memorial-giving/