William Richard Furches' Obituary
William “Bill” Richard Furches, of Fredericksburg, VA died Wednesday, February 6, 2019.
Bill was born on April 3, 1930 and grew up in Clemmons, NC. He carried papers from 1941-1948, the year he graduated from Clemmons High School. While a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, he was a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity. Bill graduated from UNC in the fall of 1951 and worked for a short while for Western Electric and Forsyth County Courthouse. He then worked almost 40 years for IBM in Winston-Salem, NC and Jacksonville, FL. Bill was a systems analyst and taught customers how to program and operate computers. He and his wife, Betty, were members of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, FL for 57 years and Bill sang bass in the Chancel Choir during that time. He also taught juniors (ages 9-10) in Training Union at FBC for 38 years.
Bill married his high school sweetheart, Betty Lewis in June 1951. Together they raised 4 children and have 5 grandchildren. Their children are Lori Furches Thrailkill (Phil) of Greer, SC, Kristi Furches Harcum Clore (David) of Brightwood, VA, William Richard “Rick” Furches, Jr. (Linda) of Oley, PA, and Stephen “Steve” Lewis Furches (partner, Peter Prinsloo) of Cape Town, South Africa. Their grandchildren are Daniel Thrailkill (Joe Cianciolo), Dr. Ellen Thrailkill, Chris Furches, Katie Furches, and Will Harcum (Ashley). They also have 2 great-grandchildren, Phoebe Jean and Della Harcum.
A memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm on Sunday, February 17, 2019 in the Chancellor Room at Chancellors Village, Fredericksburg, VA. Memorials may be sent to the Chancel Choir of First Baptist Church, 119 W. Beaver St., Jacksonville, FL 32202.
Condolences may be shared with his family online at foundandsons.com.
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