William “Bill” Jacob Melvin was born in Troy, Ohio, one of 10 children. Graduating from Troy High School in 1951, he then joined Air Force ROTC at Bowling Green State University. While at BGSU, he met Carol Ann Laing from Perrysburg, whom he married after graduation in 1955.

After qualifying for flight school in 1955, he trained at Bartow Air Force Base in Florida. He went on to fly various aircraft around the world as a U.S. Air Force pilot and then joined the Ohio National Guard until 1971.

Bill and Carol settled back in Perrysburg in the late ’60s, attending Grace Church and raising four children, all of whom graduated from Perrysburg High School.

Bill owned an industrial distribution company and later worked as a representative for Prudential Financial Services. After retirement, he served as a guest teacher at Hondrus College in Banking. Bill still found time to serve as Sunday school teacher, scoutmaster of Troop 110 and Rotary president.

His family was a priority and the whole family loved spending time traveling in their RV. One of their favorite traveling places was a family cabin on Lake Huron in Ontario. Bill and Carol loved traveling, learning more about the world and visiting children and grandchildren. Recently, Bill and Carol moved to Memphis and attended Hope Church, where they actively participated and supported missions.

Bill loved Jesus and his family. He was a true gentleman, ethical, honest, caring and had a great sense of humor with everyone. His faith and his family were the most important things to him, and he very rarely missed a sporting event, a concert or a campout. He loved to sit with family and friends and tell stories about his life and experiences.

He will be missed by his family and all who knew him. He is survived by his wife, Carol of 66 years; Pam (Tom) Bramlage of Germantown, Tennessee; Scott Melvin of Greenwood Lake, New York; Steve (Laura) of Traverse City, Michigan; Kimberly (Ed) of Kandern, Germany, and 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is survived by siblings, Betty Woollery, Harold Melvin, Jerry Melvin and Linda Pfister.

The entire family wishes to thank the staff at Story Point Senior Living for their love, kindness and caring.

A celebration of his life will be held Wednesday, June 15, at Hope Church Chapel, in Cordova, Tennessee, with a visitation at 1 p.m., a 2 p.m. service, with reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Grace United Methodist Church Missions in Perrysburg, gracechurchperrysburg.com/ give-online; Hope Church Memphis Missions, hope pres.com/global-outreach, or Perrysburg Rotary Club.

Collierville Funeral home, Dignitymemorial. com.