William Alquin (Bill) Granberry Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

William Alquin (Bill) Granberry, 95, of 3990 Losillias Drive, Sarasota, FL died peacefully at home on Friday, June 24, 2022. A celebration of his life will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, July 16 at First Baptist Church Sarasota, where he was a member for over 32 years. Bill was born in Headland, Alabama, the youngest of nine children to the late George Franklin Granberry and Maggie Pamela Armstrong. He graduated from high school at the age of 16 and attended Auburn University in 1943 for one year, before enrolling in the US Navy and being transferred to GA Tech in their V-12 Program for aeronautical engineering. He received his commission as an officer toward the end of WW2, rode a train to San Francisco, and was then placed on a ship to Oahu, Hawaii, where he joined a bomber squadron as a maintenance officer at Barbers Point Naval Base. He later joined a fighter squadron in Maui and helped keep the naval planes flying, always listening to the chief petty officers because Bill said, “I didn’t know anything about planes”. He returned to GA Tech to finish his degree in aeronautical engineering in 1946 followed by a degree in industrial engineering in 1949. In the Summer of 1949, Bill attended law school at George Washington University. After one year of school, Bill voluntarily re-enlisted in the Navy in 1950 during the Korean War and served in Japan for two years as a Lieutenant, because he felt like he had received so much more from the US government than he had given back to it since the Navy had paid for his college education. In 1952 he returned to GW Law School where he ran for Student Bar President and won with the help of his best friend, Bryce Curry. He graduated first in his law class and was awarded a teaching fellowship at GW, earning his Master of Law. In 1953 he met his lovely wife, Joyce Frances Bonhardt, on a blind date and was married to her on December 26, three days after passing the bar exam. Bill practiced law for several years in Alabama, where two of his children, Suellen and William Jr. (Skip) were born. In 1957 he and Joyce moved to Greensboro, NC where he was the Executive Vice-President of the NC Savings and Loan League. In Greensboro their middle daughter, Julie, was born. Three years later Bill and four other men founded American Mortgage Insurance Company (AMIC) in Raleigh, NC, and Bill served as its CEO. AMIC was the second oldest private mortgage company in the US. Bill and Joyce welcomed their youngest daughter, Gayle, while they lived in Raleigh. He retired from AMIC when the company was sold, and he and Joyce retired to Sarasota, FL. Bill was a member of Trinity Baptist Church in Raleigh where he served as chairman of both the deacons and the Building and Grounds Committee. He and Joyce transferred their membership to First Baptist Sarasota in the 1980’s. Bill served his community in Raleigh faithfully as a trustee/board member at Meredith College, the Boys and Girls Club, and Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T now Truist), and served as Chairman of The United Way. He was also on the board for the Wake County Boy Scouts. He supported Habitat in Sarasota, sponsoring a family’s first home. He loved family reunions with his nieces and nephews, reading, gardening, traveling, and going to the movies. Bill and Joyce had many fond memories of raising their children at Atlantic Beach, NC in the summers where he would take their boat, “The Ski Me”, on fishing excursions catching spanish and king mackerel. Bill loved the Lord and had a heart for those less fortunate than he. His wonderful sense of humor and self-deprecating personality endeared him to many. He was a loving husband and devotedly cared for his wife for two years after her stroke. Bill will be greatly missed by his friends and family. He was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Joyce Frances Bonhardt, his daughter, Gayle Granberry Walker, and eight siblings. Bill is survived by his children, Suellen Granberry-Hager, Skip Granberry (Terri), and Julie Granberry King (Lee), nine grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Memorials may be made to The Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota or Wake County and The Florida or North Carolina Baptist Children’s Homes.

Tributes

William Alquin (Bill) Granberry

June 24, 2022