William Jackson "Bill" Stroud, 86 was reunited with his beloved wife Frances, whom he had been waiting to see again for 26 years at 2:15 on Thursday, October 18, 2018 while a resident at Loch Haven Nursing Home in Macon, Missouri.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 AM Monday, October 22, 2018 at Fenton Funeral Chapel in Centralia, burial with full military honors will follow in the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Jacksonville.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 – 11:00 AM Monday at the funeral chapel.

Bill was born on October 2, 1932 in Marshall, Mo., the son of JSM and Florence A. (Yowell) Stroud.

Later his mother remarried H. O. "Kirk" Kirchoff and they raised "Billy Jack" as he was known in Marshall.

On Jan. 21, 1953, Bill married Frances E. Smith and she preceded him in death in Feb. of 1992.

He leaves behind two daughters, Robin Pratt and Charity Richmond, two grandchildren, Erin E. Spicer (Braden) and Corey Richmond (Nicole), two great-grandchildren, Thor Aiden (7) & Olivia Hope (4).

Mr. Stroud enlisted in the United States Army in 1949 at a very young age and served his country in the Korean War, where he received 2 purple hearts. Even though he was only in the Army for a short time, it had a profound impact on the rest of his life. Bill spent the rest of his life serving his community.

Bill was a member of the Helping Hands CB Club, which began to provide rural Boone county with some much needed fire protection. These men started out with just a couple of donated trucks and determination and built it into the Boone County Fire Protection Distict we have today.

He was a Deputy Sheriff for Boone County serving under Sheriff Bud Elkin.

Bill attended the University of Missouri and then Lincoln University in Jefferson City where his photographic memory came in handy. He worked for the Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital as a member of their police force until he retired.

Bill  was passionate about many things. Reading, spiritual growth, guns and hunting, particularly prairie dogs, deer, pheasant, doves and other small game.

Bill was a generous and humble man who never grew out of the farm boy that he was. Only a close few knew that Bill had a genius level I.Q. that had his mind continuously working on the next new problem to solve.