William E. Curl

March 22, 2016

William E. Curl passed away peacefully on March 19, 2016. He was born on the outskirts of Birmingham, AL on July 20, 1921, into the home of Will and Verlie Curl who were just beginning their ministry in the North Alabama Conference of the Methodist Church. A couple of years later a daughter, Dorothy, would be added to the family. Bill, as he became known to most people, enjoyed the love of his mother and the fellowship of his father. They played together and prayed together. After graduating from Cherokee County High School in 1939, Bill attended Emory and Henry College in Virginia for a year and a half on a partial football scholarship. Due to an illness and the hospitalization of his mother, Bill left school to help care for her and assist the family financially. After a year, Bill entered Birmingham Southern College where he met Faye Little, the love of his life, while singing together in the operetta, “Iolanthe.” In 1943 during World War II, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. While in the service Bill flew the B-25 Mitchell, the B-24 Liberator and the B-29 Superfortress. On December 18, 1943 he and Faye were married while he was stationed at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama. After the war ended, they became the parents of a daughter, Andrea. Bill returned home in February, 1946 to pursue his true calling, entering the Methodist ministry. After graduating from Birmingham Southern College, he attended Emery University where he received his Master of Divinity degree at Candler School of Theology in 1949. Bill served churches throughout the North Alabama Conference including Oxford, Vestavia, McCoy, Tuscaloosa First, Huntsville First and Canterbury from where he retired in 1987. He also served in other capacities including District Superintendent of the Florence District, chairman of the Board of Ministries of the Methodist Church and chairman of the committee on Rules. He was given an honorary doctorate from Birmingham Southern College where he served as the chairman of the executive committee of the board of trustees.

After retiring from the active ministry, he and Faye moved back to the Vestavia community where they lived until 2005. While there, they attended the Vestavia  Hills United Methodist Church, where Bill taught the Trinity Sunday School class for 15 years. In 2005 they moved to Pensacola to be near their daughter.

Bill’s great love has been his preaching and praying and serving as a pastor to the congregations where he was appointed. His writing ability was not only exhibited in his sermons, but in his book, “Seasons of Prayer.” He always placed great importance on his family, whom he loved dearly. He considered himself a most fortunate man whom God blessed beyond anything he could have dreamed.

Bill will be forever remembered as a wonderful and devoted husband by Faye, his wife of  72 years; a kind, loving and generous father, by his daughter, Andrea Edgar; an amazing grandfather by his granddaughters, Alissa Troike (wife of Ross Troike of Collierville, TN) and Deanna Lamarche (wife of Ted Lamarche, Pensacola). He shall also be dearly missed by his great-grandchildren, Marin Troike, Wyatt Troike, Paxton Lamarche, Aiden Lamarche and Hylan Lamarche and by his sister, Dorothy Yarbrough (Birmingham, AL) and his nephew and nieces.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to the  William E. and Faye L. Curl Scholarship at Birmingham Southern College, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Box 549003, Birmingham, AL 35254 or to First United Methodist Church, 6 East Wright Street, Pensacola, FL 32501. A memorial service will be planned at a later date.

Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.

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Written by Jane · Filed Under Obituaries