William LePrince Huettel's Obituary
William LePrince Huettel passed away peacefully on June 25, 2022 after a short illness.
A lifelong Memphian, Billy was born September 7, 1933 to Alice and Wilfred Huettel.
Billy grew up in Memphis where he attended Little Flower Catholic School and then attended high school at Christian Brothers College (now CBHS). It was in high school on a blind date that he met the love of his life, Janet Alford. After graduating high school, he attended Texas A&M University where he was captain of the fencing team and Southwest Conference Fencing Champion in saber. This distinguishment led to him being invited to try out for the Olympics. He continued this passion after graduation by helping to found the Memphis Fencing Club.
Upon graduation with a Bachelors in Business Administration, he joined the family business, The United Paint Company where he eventually, became president. He also served on the board of Pratt and Lambert, Inc.
Billy married his high school sweetheart, Janet and raised four children. He and Janet enjoyed traveling together and in addition to regular forays to Destin, Florida and Pickwick Lake, they also traveled to several countries in Europe as well as to Egypt and Turkey. Together they also collected art and antiques and owned a business, "A Pastime Antiques".
Billy served two terms in the Tennessee State House of Representatives and remained active in the Republican Party throughout his life. He also served on numerous local boards including Opera Memphis, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology, St. Agnes Academy, St. Peter's Catholic Church, the City Beautiful Commission and was Chairman of the Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up Committee. He also served as Chairman of the board of the Cook Convention Center. He was also a member of the Jaycees and Toastmasters.
He was in the US Army Reserves and earned the rank of Captain in the 894th tank brigade.
A true Renaissance Man, he enjoyed writing and had several articles published, including a book about his experiences as a schoolboy at Little Flower co-authored by a classmate. He enjoyed being an amateur paleontologist and archaeologist. However, his true passion was for singing opera. His fine tenor voice earned him several operatic roles, most notably "La Traviata" and "Aida", where he performed with Metropolitan Opera Stars. His final role was that of the Emperor in "Turandot". He also lent his voice to weddings and the St. Louis Church choir.
He was a lifelong Catholic and a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Knights Templar. He was also a member of the Christian Brothers High School Hall of Fame.
Despite his many interests and obligations, Billy always made time for his children, grandchildren and animals. He constantly sparked his kid’s and grandkids’ imaginations with whimsical and fun stories and activities such as headless horseman car rides, handmade buried treasure maps, experiments in real test tubes, and ghost stories on the spooky walk to the cemetery at Pickwick. He was known to evenly split cans of sardines with Curiosity, the pet cat while saying “ One for you and One for me.”
Billy was preceded in death by his wife, Janet, his daughter Whitley Huettel Mitchell, his son in law Eric Mitchell, his son and law Charley Snyder. He is survived by his three children, Laurie Snyder, Cathy (John) Gay, Bill (Bobo) Huettel Jr. His grandchildren Will (Rachel)Snyder, Trey Huettel, Elise Gay, Stuart Huettel, Anna Cathryn Gay, and Nate Huettel and great grandson River Huettel. His brother Wilfred ""Chick"" Huettel (Cathy), brother-in-law Danny Robinson and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to The Whitley Huettel Scholarship Fund, 4830 Walnut Grove Road, Memphis, TN 38117 www.saa-sds.org/support or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Visitation will be Tuesday June 28 from 2:00-3:00 at Memorial Park 5668 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38119 with interment at 3:00 at Memorial Park Cemetery.
With respect to Billy's wishes, the family encourages those who wish to pay their respects to him to attend his Memorial Mass which will be held on Wednesday, July 6th, 2022 at 3:00 PM at St. Peter's Catholic Church, 190 Adams Ave, Memphis, TN. 38103.
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