Uncle Bill

I am stinging from this loss. I am not one of those people who moved across country and had my relationships persist as if I had never left. So, I haven't talked to Uncle Bill in two years, since we moved out of the neighborhood adjacent to him. Bill and Deanie were cornerstones of my childhood. Very simple, salt-of-the-earth people, they were family icons. They didn't do much outside love their family and their church but they were just really, really good at it.

Bill, at 19, married Deanie when she was 13. They stayed together for the rest of his life and had three strong sons who all smile the same--just like their Daddy. Bill was the family fix-it guy who would come to work on your toilet or car, whether you asked him to or not.

They didn't really understand me when I grew up, or why I couldn't stay around my toxic mother (whose behaviour they blame on her divorce and my slacker sister) but they never treated me poorly. I feel bad for Deanie. Beyond bad. I can't imagine losing a partner of 56 years. I just can't.






William William Reese Harvill, 75 of Charleston, SC, entered into eternal rest April 1, 2007.

Bill was the son of the late John and Elsie Harvill. Mr. Harvill proudly served 26 years in the United States Air Force, retiring at the rank of Master Sergeant. He was a devoted member of the First Church of the Nazarene on Yeamans Hall Road in Hanahan, SC. He is survived by his beloved wife of 56 years, Elizabeth "Deanie" Donnally Harvill, three sons, David and his wife Kathy of North Charleston, Ronald and his wife Christine of East Hartford, Conn., Daren and his wife Anna of Warner Robins, GA; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, one brother Phillip "P.O." Harvill of Biloxi, MS. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, April 5, 2007, 1:00 PM at CAROLINA MEMORIAL FUNERAL HOME CHAPEL. Burial to follow in Carolina Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Wednesday, April 4, 2007, at CAROLINA MEMORIAL FUNERAL HOME, 7113 Rivers Avenue, North Charleston, SC. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Church of the Nazarene Memorial Roll in honor of his name. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.