of Conway, AR

December 24, 1930 - October 9, 2022

Billy (Bill) W. Harding, 91, left this world on October 9, 2022 and is in Heaven with his Lord and Savior. Bill was born in Perry, OK December 24, 1930 to Hazel and Verna Harding. His family left Perry and moved to Tonkawa, Ok. He lived in Tonkawa until he was 10 years old. His family then moved from OK to Blythe, CA, where he lived until 1947.

He left Blythe and moved to Santa Paula, CA with his new wife, Donna Dodson. Bill worked in the packing house and then went to work for Nathan Morrow, who owned the local Studebaker dealership, as a mechanic. He enrolled in barber college where he got his barber license and barbered for a couple of years and then returned to the Studebaker dealership as a mechanic. He was offered an opportunity to join the sales staff after only a few weeks. In 1958 he moved the family from Santa Paula to Ventura CA ,where he took a job with Metropolitan Life Insurance where he again worked as a salesman, eventually becoming a manager.

In 1962, while on vacation in Yosemite with the family, JFK was visiting the National Park and was walking alongside the escort car shaking hands with the crowd, Bill was in the right place at the right time because JFK paused, reached out his hand and looked Bill straight in the eye and shook hands.

Bill met Gini Wilson at a square dance class in 1980 and they were inseparable from that point on. They married the following year. They were members of the "Starlighters" square dance club and danced in conventions from CA to WA. He and Gini became Realtors, opened their own office and both became Brokers. After visiting their daughter in AR, they bought land, built a home and moved in 2000. After moving to AR, he did extensive research on both his mother's and father's family history here in AR, TN and KY.

He is preceded in death by his first wife, Donna Dodson Harding and his second wife, Gini Wilson Harding.

He leaves behind five children in California, Dan (Sue), Debbie Hovey, Chris Harding and Jodie (Long) and one daughter in Arkansas, Nicky Sain (Jerry); 13 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren.

Bill was a special man who loved his Lord and his family. His favorite verse from the bible was Romans 8:28 and one of his favorite songs was "I'll Fly Away".

There will be a General Visitation on Tuesday October 11, 2022 from 10:00am to 8:00pm. He will be laid to rest privately at Crestlawn Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Friendship Baptist Church building fund would be appreciated.

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