William G. “Bill” Harrington

William (Bill) Grey Harrington, 81, of Garner, North Carolina passed away peacefully at his home on July 20th. Bill was born in Bristol, VA, on June 2, 1937 to the late Rev. William Harrison Harrington and Stella Mae Harrington. He was predeceased by his sister, Mary Kilgore. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 2:00 PM at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, Garner. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 1:00 PM – 1:45PM at the funeral home. A private committal will take place at a later date. Bill graduated Valedictorian from Wallace Virginia High School and received a Bachelors of Science Degree from Emory and Henry College. In 1956, while still a sophomore in college, he married his wife of 61 years, Helen Livingston, then a freshman at Virginia Intermont College. He is survived by his son of Garner, NC, his daughter, Dolly Mae Terlizzi along with her husband Eric Terlizzi, his grandchildren David, Chloe and Sophie Terlizzi all of Raleigh, NC, and several nieces and nephews. After serving time in the Army Reserves, Bill began his working career as plant engineer for such companies as Sperry Rand, Raytheon and Hover Ball. From 1970 to 1982, he was owner of Southeastern Music in downtown Bristol, VA TN. Bill served several churches in the Bristol area as Music Minister. Among these were North Bristol Baptist, Midway Baptist and Kingsway Baptist Church. He also worked in Real Estate with Harmon Associates and serviced many clients as a Piano Technician. Bill was widely known for his love and gift of music. As a talented vocalist, he sang tenor in quartets including an award winning Barbershop Quartet, was a soloist in presentations of “The Messiah”, and performed and ministered for countless other events and services. Bill was also a tremendous guitarist as well as pianist and also taught private lessons earlier in his life. Bill enjoyed golfing, bowling and watching his favorite sports personalities. Crosswords puzzles and especially Scrabble were a daily practice, and he was always excited and challenged by a good and fun competition. From a very early age, he was fascinated by photography and could always be found taking meaningful and special pictures of people he loved. Bill was so well known for his quick wit and clever use of puns at just the right time in any conversation. Each Monday, he found so much joy meeting with the caring men of Shiloh Baptist Church for prayer and then going for fellowship somewhere close for lunch. Filled with laughter and joy, Bill never met a stranger. His love for Christ was fervent and infectious and is more far-reaching than can be imagined. Next to living for Christ, his greatest love was his family. Bill was a faithful and loving husband, Daddy, Poppy and friend. The Harrington and Terlizzi families wish to thank all the EMS of Garner, NC for their swift and compassionate response to our need.