JENKINS, JR., WILLIAM HARRISON Bill Jenkins, of Birmingham, passed away February 27, 2012. He was born June 20, 1941 in LaFayette, Alabama and was the eldest son of the late Margaret Payne and William H. Jenkins of Greensboro, and Decatur, Alabama. Grieving survivors include: sisters, Virginia Van Horn (Gage), Bellaire, Texas; Annette Dean (Walter), Mountain Brook; and brother George L. Jenkins, Birmingham. Nieces and nephews include: Margaret Louise Van Horn, Bellaire, Texas; Michael Gage Van Horn, Cincinnati, Ohio; Amelia Dean Bobo (Jon Paul), Fairhope, Alabama; Anna Schuessler Dean, Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Jenkins is remembered for his devotion to his family and friends, his innate Southern charm and for his high degree of integrity in professional and volunteer tasks. A brief memorial organ concert will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2012 at The Cathedral Church of the Advent promptly at 2:30 p.m. The family will receive visitors following the concert in the Clingman Commons. Private interment will be among five generations of relatives in the LaFayette Cemetery, Chambers County, Alabama. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: Birmingham-Southern College (Jenkins Family Student Travel Fund), Development Office, Campus PO # 549003, Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, AL 35254 or to Virginia Samford Theatre, 1116 26th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35205.
Richard Allen
In his grammar school years, Billy lived in a house on the corner of Third Avenue,S.E. (my street) and Prospect Drive, facing Prospect. Our classmate, Beverly Compton, lived across the street in a house also facing Prospect, and just a few doors down, at the corner of Prospect and Fourth Avenue, our Nancy Reed lived, all literally a stone's throw from Gordon Bibb.
I grew up a block and a half further south on Third Avenue, in the low rent district. We were all friends at Gordon Bibb, and played together as much as boys and girls could in those days--which was not very much. Nevertheless, since Billy's father was the high school principal, we were a little suspicious and had to be careful around him. There was a pecan tree in their back yard, but unfortunately for them, the nuts sometimes fell in the no man's land between their fence and the street where it was every man for himself. Billy's mother would dispatch him and some of his siblings to retrieve the errant pecans,but if we got to them first, she let us keep them. Almost like found money, nothing is better than some other persons produce.
Like most of our classmates, Billy was a good boy and got along well with the class. He had more motivation toward academic excellence than many of us, and was always on good behavior, just a model student.
I never saw Billy after graduation, but on reading his profile, I wish I had.