William M "Bill" Lightfoot

WILLIAM (BILL) MALLORY LIGHTFOOT, 88, of Paris, died surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, December 28, 2013, in the home of Philip and Deborah Lightfoot. Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, in the chapel of Starrett Funeral Home with Rev. Bob Bush officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 30th and from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 31st at the funeral home.
Bill was born January 27, 1925, in Paris, Lamar County, Texas, the son of Will Henry and Hattie Bell Mallory Lightfoot. He was a graduate of the Paris High School class of 1942 and attended Paris Junior College, Bowdoin College in Maine, and the University of Texas in Austin. During World War II, he served three years in the Navy in the Pacific theater aboard the U.S.S. Gridley. He married the beautiful Thelma Christine Knowles on Sunday, August 22, 1948. Bill graduated from The University of Texas with a Master of Architecture degree on August 27, 1953. After graduating, Bill returned home to Paris and joined his father's firm, Will H. Lightfoot & Associates, Architects, of Paris, Texas, where he worked until he retired in 2006. The firm was responsible for the design and restoration of almost 1,000 public buildings, commercial businesses, health centers, churches, and residences in Paris and the surrounding area, dating from 1916 to 2006. A few of the firm's accomplishments over the ninety years of practice include the original structures of: Paris City Hall and Fire Station, Paris Junior College, St. Joseph's Hospital, McCuistion Hospital, UARCO Inc. Printing Plant, Holiday Inn, North Lamar ISD campus, A. M. Aiken Elementary School, Aerofit Fitness Center, Ruth Hall of Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Calvary United Methodist Church and the restoration of the Paris Community Theater.
In addition to his professional life, Bill was very active in the community of Paris and Lamar County over his lifetime. He was instrumental in forming the Paris Toastmasters Club in 1961 and served as its first President. He was a founding member of the Lamar County Human Resource Council in 1979 and served as its first President. He served a term as President of the Paris Junior College Ex-Student Association, and was active in the Paris Jaycees. He was an organizing member of the board responsible for building The Golden Acres Retirement Center in Paris. He also served the Methodist Church as a district lay minister.
Bill's quick smile and ready laugh warmed the hearts of all who knew him.
Bill is survived by two sons, Philip Lightfoot and wife Deborah of Dallas and Tom Lightfoot and wife Cindy of Frisco; two daughters, Julia Lightfoot of Washington, D.C., and Elaine Smith and husband Vernon of Plano; seven grandchildren, Laura Lightfoot, Maxey Mitchell, Alex Smith, Kelly Smith, Terri Kay Meyer, Mallory Lightfoot, and Candice Shoptaugh; two great-granddaughters Nevaeh and Samantha and sister-in-law Dorothy Rodgers of Paris.
In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his beloved wife Thelma on May 30,2008, and by his sisters Sarah Etta Lightfoot Denney and Virginia Lightfoot Walker.