William Ralph "Bill" Sturm

William Ralph "Bill" Sturm passed away on Wednesday, December 1, 2010, in Perry, Ga. A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 7, 2010, at Perry United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, December 6, 2010, at Watson-Hunt Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Sunshine School, P.O. Box 831, Searcy, Ark. 72145; Heart of Georgia Hospice, 1120 Morningside Drive, Perry, Ga. 31069; or to the church or charity of the donor's choice. Bill was born on August 28, 1929, to William Walter Ralph Sturm and Irene Acree Sturm in Shreveport, La. He graduated from Searcy High School with honors and went on to graduate from Harding University with a B.A. in Mathematics. He proudly served his country in the U. S. Army from 1950-1953 in the Armored Calvary, training and tank testing, and attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He built a 36-year career in the computer industry, starting with the Service Bureau Corp (IBM) in the era of keypunch cards and manually programmed cord boards, and ending with Kellwood Corp in 1991 in the era of high speed and personal computers. Bill and his wife, Nancy, were long-time residents of Perry, where they were members of Perry United Methodist Church. He loved playing golf and bridge, telling and e-mailing jokes, and bird watching, as well as reading and working crossword puzzles. Bill also loved telling stories of his early childhood when he and his family moved around the country, met many interesting people, and spent many happy summers with his Grandparents in Uvalde, Texas. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 58 years, Nancy Lee Taylor Sturm; his parents; his mother- and father-in-law, Judge Elmo and Nancy Lee Taylor; and his sister-in-law, Mildred Taylor Wilbourn. Left to cherish the memories of Bill are his sister, Dolores A. Sturm of Uvalde, Texas; his sister-in-law, Mary Lou Dunn of Searcy, Ark.; his children, Karen Mode and her husband, Floyd, of Little Rock, Ark., Rebecca Long and her husband, Mike, of Perry, Ga., William R. "Bill" Sturm and his wife, Julie, of Overland Park, Kan., and Leslie Sinyard of Perry, Ga.; eight grandchildren, Nancy Evans of Boston, Mass., Sarah Evans, Katie Sinyard, and Will Sinyard, all of Perry, Ga., Kris Sturm and Patrick Sturm of Overland Park, Kan., Chad Alligood of New York, N.Y., and Chelsea Long of Perry, Ga.; three nephews and nieces; numerous cousins; and extended family members. Condolences may be left for the family in the online guestbook at www.watsonhunt.com.