Wayne William Hamblin

Another member of the Greatest Generation has left us with the passing of Bill Hamblin on July 16th. Born on the longest day of the year in 1916 in Chicago Illinois, he was witness to much of the history of the 20th century from the “roaring twenties” in Chicago to the Great Depression to the war in the Pacific. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 in the ship repair unit as a painter on board USS OTUS (ARG-20), which saw duty in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines. His many memories of those times included a visit by the Bob Hope Troupe to the ship, travel below the equator and the “shellback” ceremonies, and crossing the International Date Line on Christmas day. He carried a card in his wallet for many years that allowed him to celebrate Christmas twice each year because of this.

Following the war he moved to Houston Texas where he met and married James Marie Winn in 1947. Together they raised three sons, living first in the South Park area and from 1959 to 1979 in Spring Branch.

Bill was involved in the furniture industry throughout his life, beginning in the late 1930’s as a partner to his father Harvey manufacturing chests and cabinets in Miami Florida, through his retirement from Star Furniture in Houston in 1978 as a senior executive. He enjoyed 34 years of retirement with his wife Marie in trips to the Holy Land, cruises, and travels throughout the U.S. in their RV’s. They moved from Houston in 1979 to Kingsland and became involved with square dancing both there and on their travels. One of their favorite destinations was the Rio Grande Valley and they made the move to Pharr in 1995. As the years passed they felt the need to be closer to family in the Houston area and made their final move to the Kruse Retirement Village in Brenham in 2004.

He was pre-deceased by his mother and father, Clema Kuhn and Harvey Hamblin, and sisters Gladys Conklin and Ruth Bremer, and grandson Timothy.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Marie; three sons, James of Houston, David of Ramona, California, and Donald of College Station; six grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Friday, August 17th at 1:00 PM at the Kruse Retirement Village chapel in Brenham. Please consider donations to the Salvation Army or the Texas A&M Medical Research Facility in lieu of flowers.

Condolences

  1. I am sorry to learn of the loss of Wayne. He will be dearly missed. It can be very comforting to know that Wayne has the hope to be able to see and enjoy the love and company of his family and friends again! (Acts 24:15) I hope the ‘God of all comfort’ will help your family during this sad time. (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)

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