William Griffin Pitts (Grandpa Bill) was born on December 26, 1872 in Jones County, Mississippi.

He died on September 5,1957 in Pasadena, Harris County, Texas at the age of 84 years, 8 months and 10 days.

He was buried on September 7,1957 in the Harmony Cemetery, located west of Nacogdoches on State Highway 7.

Bill "retired" at the age of 35 following and appendectomy, which in his opinion, permanently disabled him from performing work for the remainder of his life. This gave him time to freely share his wisdom with his grand kids.

On one occasion the family was gathered at Grandma Della and Grandpa Bill's home. Bill was sitting just inside the screen door through which an electric cord had been run to power the wringer washer on the porch. The grand kids were running in and out of the door , with it slamming on the cord each time. As one of the older kids ran through the door, Bill reached out with the hook of his walking cane and reeled the child in. He told the child that he and the others were going to have to stop running through and slamming the door on the cord because it broke the electricity every time the door slammed on the cord.

After Della died, Bill rotated his living arrangements among his children and their spouses, living with one for a period of time and then moving to the next. At one point, his son I.D. and his wife Alice were caring for both Bill and Alice's father, Jasper, at the same time. Bill and Jasper were bunking together in the same room. I.D. had been up several times already to address complaints from the grandpa's. Grandpa Bill continued to grumble. I.D. went into the room and said ,Daddy, what is the matter now. Bill said that he didn't" want the fan blowing right on him. He wanted the fan set so that the air would bounce off the wall and then hit him.


Submitted by Jon and B.J. Pitts