He was born in Birmingham, Ala., and graduated from Ramsey High School. At Princeton he joined Quadrangle Club and majored in basic engineering. After graduation Bill served for two years as a lieutenant junior-grade in the Navy in Chicago and on the USS Philippine Sea.
He then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and returned to Alabama to begin a business career with Alabama Power in the industrial development department. In 1963 he moved to Moore-Handley Hardware Co., where he became president. He later founded The Storeroom as a division of Thompson Tractor Co.
Bill was president of the Downtown Rotary Club of Birmingham and a longtime member of Blooming Grove Hunting and Fishing Club. He enjoyed bird hunting and fly-fishing, and was said to know where every fish was in the streams. Bill was a fourth-generation member of South Highland Presbyterian Church, where he was baptized as a baby and later served as an elder and trustee.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Jane Blough French; one son; one daughter; and four grandchildren.