William F. Gilliam

RALEIGH - William Farley Gilliam died Tuesday, May 28, 2013, at William Dunlap Center, Hospice. He was born May 11, 1925, in Tarboro, North Carolina, the second son of Alice Farley and Donnell Gilliam. From his infancy he was known as Boo Boo. Educated in the Tarboro Public Schools, Woodberry Forest School, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was accepted in the U.S. Navy V-12 program in 1942 and became an underwater demolition expert in the Navy Scouts and Raiders. He was commissioned ensign and served in the Pacific at the end of World War II.He was an outstanding athlete in football, baseball, racquetball, golf, and tennis. At UNC, he played on the varsity football team against West Points Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. On the UNC baseball team, he practiced against Ted Williams and Johnny Pesky. In 1947, he signed to play minor league baseball in Geneva, Alabama. He entered the yarn business in 1949, employed by Beautiful Bryans Hosiery. In 1955, he bought a small insurance agency which became Gilliam, Barbour, & Barefoot, maintaining the business until it was acquired by the Yancey Agency and First Citizens Insurance Co. in 1998. He served his community as Wake County Commissioner, 1962 to 1964; concurrently, he owned and operated Uncle Dons Barbeque on US-1 North/Capital Boulevard until 1968. He was a member of the YMCA, St Michaels Episcopal Church, the Carrousel Club, and Carolina Country Club for over 50 years. He was a former member of the Circle Club, the Terpsichorean Club, and the Sphinx Club. Most of all, he was a friend to all whom he met. He genuinely cared for others and always wanted to know: Where are you from? because he knew someone from there and wanted to bring them into the conversation.His kind spirit will be dearly missed by his family and friends but will live on in the lives and memories of everyone he touched. He has left us all feeling better just for his being a part of our lives. Boo Boo never met a challenge that he did not try to conquer, and his competitive spirit was evident until the last pitch was thrown, and God decided it was time to call his son home. He is survived by his loving wife of 33 years, Marita Higgins Gilliam, his three children: William Farley Gilliam, Jr., Priscilla Gilliam Laite, Frank Donnell Gilliam; their mother, Priscilla Ray Gilliam; five grandchildren who affectionately call him Boo Pa: William Farley Gilliam III, Connor Brown Gilliam, their mother Julia Brown Miller, Priscilla Taylor Laite, Ella Donnell Gilliam, and Frank Donnell Gilliam, Jr. He is also survived by his niece Hannah Gilliam. He is also survived by his three stepchildren and their families: John Russell and Denise Kennihan, Maureen Kennihan and Stephen Haig, and Thomas Foy Kennihan Jr. and his partner Lisa Frazier; his eight step-grandchildren: Mary Katherine Kennihan, Katherine Call Kennihan, Geena Marie Kennihan, Elizabeth Kennihan Haig, Madeleine Marita Haig, Alison Peri Kennihan, Kristin Marie Kennihan, and Thomas Foy Kennihan III. The family welcomes friends and family on Sunday, June 2nd, from 4 to 6 pm at 912 Williamson Drive, Raleigh. A memorial service will be held at 2 pm, Monday, June 3rd, St. Michaels Episcopal Church, Raleigh, NC, followed by a reception in St. Michaels Parish Hall. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alexander YMCA, Raleigh, St Michaels Episcopal Church Foundation, or William Dunlap Center, Hospice. Arrangements by Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, Inc., 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh.