William (Bill) Dennis McIlroy

William (Bill) Dennis McIlroy, age 87 of Evant, Texas was born December 21, 1933, at home in Katy, Texas.

Funeral Services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 23, 2021, at Sneed Funeral Chapel with a visitation an hour prior.  Interment will follow at Murphree Cemetery in Evant.

Bill suffered from dementia for several years and went to be with his Lord and Savior on January 18, 2021, at Hillside Medical Lodge in Gatesville, Texas.  Bill was a devoted husband, father, and Pa and his grandchildren were the "light of his life".

Bill was a very humble man and a natural athlete who was the 1951 Texas State Champion in the shot put.  He competed in basketball, football, and track for Katy High School and was the first student to receive a full academic scholarship to the University of Houston in 1952.  Bill was inducted into the Katy ISD Athletic Hall of Honor Inaugural Class of 2017.

While at the University of Houston, Bill lettered each year in football and he was the 1954 Houston Sideline Coaches Outstanding Lineman of the Year and he was on the Missouri Valley Conference football championship team.  Bill was drafted by the Green Bay Packers, but he chose to serve his country in the United States Army.  Bill was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army at the rank of Captain in 1967.

Bill was a part-owner and operator of his family business, Katy & Waller Farm Equipment, and retired in 1982 and moved to Evant, Texas where he enjoyed living on the BMc Ranch with his wife, Barbara.

Bill is preceded in death by his wife, Barbara McIlroy and his brother, Bob McIlroy.

Survivors include his daughters, Yvonne McIlroy, Diana McIlroy Morris and husband, Phillip; grandchildren, Brian Mauney, Beau Morris and Tiffany Walker, Mathew Morris and wife, Amanda, Brenda Mauney Duebbe and husband, Jason, Betsy Mauney Sawyer and husband, Bradley, Carolyn Huncke Simmerman and husband, Chris, Jennifer Huncke Fiskeaux and husband, Mark; great-grandchildren, Tanner Mauney, Daren Duebbe, Slone and Hayes Morris, Caine Simmerman; sister-in-law, Carolyn McIlroy and numerous nieces and nephews.