William Frank Watrous

William Frank Watrous, age 83, died on January 30, 2009 following a brief illness. Born October 30, 1925, at his life-long home in Long Beach, William was the youngest of three children born to Geoffrey Steele Watrous, Sr., and his wife, May Quarles Watrous.
William was named for his two grandfathers, William James Quarles, pioneer resident of Long Beach, who moved his family here from Tennessee 125 years ago this month, and Frank Peters Watrous, who at ten years of age had moved with his family from Aberdeen, MS, at the end of the Civil War to a plantation near Punta Gorda, British Honduras in Central America (now Belize). The Watrous Family came to Long Beach in 1908.
WilliamaÌ‚â‚â„¢s father dubbed him aÌ‚â‚Å“Tiddley Winksâ₝ at the time of his birth because that game was all the rage at that time. Soon the cumbersome first part of the nickname was dropped, and William became known as aÌ‚â‚Å“Winksâ₝ in his hometown for the balance of his life. In the military service and in his work places, William was known as aÌ‚â‚Å“Watrousâ₝ and/or aÌ‚â‚Å“Bill.â₝ William attended Long Beach schools, graduating on May 23, 1943.
William could recall that as a barefoot pre-schooler in 1930, he stood in his homeaÌ‚â‚â„¢s side yard, with his head thrown back in awe, as he watched a squadron of army air corps biplanes fly over west to eastaÌ‚â‚""their bright, forest-green fuselages and buff-colored wings and tail assemblies glinting in the mid-morning sunshine. A red, white, and blue star insignia was painted underneath the lower wing of each aircraft, encircled by a ring, this designating the aÌ‚â‚Å“US Army Air Corps.â₝ William knew at that moment that he wanted to be an airplane pilot (or at least involved with airplanes in some way).
William recalled an interesting event in the spring of 1942 while he was in typing class at the school building located on Jeff Davis Avenue. Lt. Col. Jimmy DoolittleaÌ‚â‚â„¢s aÌ‚â‚Å“Tokyo Raiders,â₝ flew east to west at tree-top level over the Long Beach School, on their way to the West Coast. William heard the multiple radial plane engines of the approaching B-25 squadron as they neared the school. He knew aÌ‚â‚Å“something bigâ₝ was coming, so he jumped up from his typewriter and ran to the classroomaÌ‚â‚â„¢s windows, just in time to see the B-25 squadron fly over in formation.
At age ten, William became a newspaper carrier, employed by Mrs. W. L. Ervin, who was the Long Beach distributor for The Daily Herald, predecessor to the present-day The Sun-Herald. He held this job until he took over the distributorship, during his last two years of high school, of the New OrleansaÌ‚â‚â„¢ The Times Picayune and the New Orleans States. aÌ‚â‚Å“Winksâ₝ resigned from the Times Picayune Publishing Company in September 1943 in order to enroll as an engineering freshman at Mississippi State College at Starkville, now Mississippi State University.
Attaining the age of 18 years on October 30, 1943, William withdrew from college at the end of January 1944, and returned to Long Beach to volunteer for immediate induction into the military services. Having lived on the Coast all his life, William had often watched Navy single engine training planes from Pensacola, FL, NAS, as they flew over the Mississippi sound in front of Long Beach. William wanted to become a Navy pilot so badly he said he aÌ‚â‚Å“could taste it.â₝ But at that time, the Navy was accepting as pilot trainees only those young men who were in top physical condition. WilliamaÌ‚â‚â„¢s left eye was then 10/20, not the 10/10 that was required. So after four trips to Navy recruiting stationsaÌ‚â‚""Columbus, MS, Birmingham, AL, New Orleans, LA, and Atlanta, GAaÌ‚â‚""William was persuaded to join the then Army Air Corps Cadets, for which he volunteered for immediate induction and was accepted on February 28, 1944, at Camp Shelby, MS.
At that time, because the Army was flooded with cadets, only those young men whose test results showed that they had the abilities to become pilots, navigators, or bombardiers were then taken into cadets. The other young men were assigned to gunnery schools or to aircraft mechanics schools. William was assigned to aircraft mechanics school in San Bernardino, CA.
After serving at two military bases in the US, William was assigned to Hickam AFB, Hawaii where he had the good fortune to become the chauffeur and flight traffic clerk for his commanding officer, Brigadier General Robert D. Knapp. William flew with the CO on inspection trips to bases on islands in the mid-Pacific, including Brisbane and Sydney, Australia.
As an enlisted Air Force serviceman, William earned the Good Conduct Medal, the American Theatre Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon, and the Victory Medal. William was honorably discharged in May 1946. William returned to Mississippi State College in September 1946 to resume his higher education. He entered the Business School and became the Founding Vice President of the Marketing Club, and held memberships in the honorary business fraternity Chi Lambda Rho, the National Forensic Society Lambda Chi Alpha, and Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity. He graduated May 22, 1950, with a B.S. degree in Business Administration.
Immediately following World War II, William joined the Air Force Reserve on August 3, 1946, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant on January 21, 1949. In the Air Force Reserve he served as administrative officer and base equipment management officer of the 908th Tactical Air Support Group, Brookley Field, Mobile, AL, and before retirement as disaster preparation officer at Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS. He accepted retirement with the rank of Major on September 27, 1974, after serving his country for over 30 years in active and reserve duty. William said aÌ‚â‚Å“I loved the Air Force.â₝
William was a member of the Air Force Association, the American Legion of Jackson, MS., and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Officers Assn. of America, and the Mississippi Coast Military Officers Assn. at Keesler AFB, the American Air Museum in Britain, and many wildlife associations across the US.
William worked as a traveling sales representative for the H. J. Heinz Company to hotels and restaurants for almost ten years during the 1950s, working in southern Mississippi, southeast Louisiana, southwest Alabama, and northwest Florida. During the early 1960s, he worked for the General Electric Company as an interviewer and recruiter at the NASA Test Site before becoming Senior Employment Representative for Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, MS where he remained for twenty years, retiring on December 31, 1985. After his retirement he enjoyed participating in community activities in and around Long Beach, drawing and painting still life, growing camellias, tending his pecan orchards and reading and discussing military history.
He is survived by nieces Janet Alexander Griffin of Hyattsville MD and Alta May Watrous Stevens of Panama, OK, nephew Dr. William James Alexander of Cary, NC, and first cousin Carol Watrous Griffith of Columbia, SC. He was pre-deceased by his sister Mary Ellen Watrous Alexander and his brother Geoffrey Steele Watrous, Jr.
Memorials may be sent to the Long Beach Historical Society, PO Box 244, Long Beach, MS 39560 or to the Humane Society of South Mississippi, 2615 25th Ave., Gulfport, MS 39501.
A visitation will be held on Monday, February 2, 2009 from 10 am to 11 am at the RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 19130 Commission Road, Long Beach. A service will be held at 11 am in the funeral home chapel. Interment will be in Evergreen Cemetery. An online guestbook may be signed at www.riemannfamily.com.