William Taylor Mcgill

William Taylor (Bill) McGill, age 84, died early Sunday morning, August 13, 2023, in Providence Hospital, Waco, Texas, from cardiac complications. Visitation is scheduled for 6:00 to 8:00 pm, Thursday, August 17, 2023, at Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors in Hillsboro, Texas. Graveside services will take place at 3:00 pm, Monday, August 21, 2023, in Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, 6900 Lawndale, Houston, Texas 77023.

Bill was born in Houston on November 11, 1938, to Lonnie Oral and Patsy Ruth Williams McGill. He graduated from Milby High School in Houston in 1957 and attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1961 and a master’s degree in history in 1965. His research and master’s thesis focused on the history and significance of the Spindletop Oil discovery in East Texas.

Bill’s career as a history teacher in Houston ISD included service at Ross Sterling and Milby High Schools. He had an inquisitive mind an enjoyed many years of widespread travel in Europe, Mexico and the United States. He had a keen memory and enjoyed sharing tales of his work experience and travel with friends and colleagues. Bill retired from teaching after thirty-five years and spent time with his mother and close friends, and he became a frequent visitor to casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

After the death of his mother, Bill moved to Hillsboro in 2008 to be close to family, and he became an active member of the Hillsboro community. For several years he enjoyed fellowship with the Hillsboro Lions Club and was a member of Friends of the Hillsboro City Library, Hillsboro Heritage league, and Hill Count Retired Teachers Association. In 2010 he purchased part of the historic Scott-Middleton farm that had been home to Fairview Dairy and Jersey Farm. Bill had the mind and energy of an entrepreneur and enjoyed following agricultural interests as well as the stock market.

Bill was gregarious, generous, and outgoing, and enjoyed a conversation on any topic. In recent years, his health declined, and health issues required a more limited lifestyle with fewer trips outside his home.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Oral and Ruth Williams McGill and sister, Mary Alice McGill Nichols Bright. Bill is survived by cousins Betty Lowrance, Hillsboro; Carolyn Williams, Houston; Don Williams, Lakehills; and nephews John Nichols, Aransas Pass, Frank Nichols, Wheelersburg, Ohio; nieces Stella Hagler, Miller, Missouri, and Wanetta Bright, Ozark, Missouri.

Memorials may be made to William Taylor McGill Scholarship Fund at Hill College, 112 Lamar Drive, Hillsboro, Texas 76645.