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- Dallas Morning News, Texas, 11 December 2022
William McLauchlin Bass
Born: August 12, 1927 ? Died: November 30, 2022
When our father, Bill Bass, passed peacefully in his sleep on November 30th, his death for us was truly an end of an era. To us, he was the last of the great joke tellers, keeper of knowledge, arcane and historic, profane and poetic. Often all in one sitting.
He went out on his terms: Shoes on in bed so he'd be ready when he got up next. His last dinner with friends. A rambling phone conversation with son Brendan on Edward the VIII, shopping at Harrods, and the patience of Elizabeth II. Ending with a mutual agreement that Georgia would crush LSU.
Our father was gruff, irascible, opinionated, engaging, and funny to the end.
As a boy he endured polio at age six in rural North Carolina. Yet he carried on with life, creating a lucrative career in the home furnishings industry, a successful family life and a meaningful existence to age 95.
He was one of those big personalities. He had many stories of success despite the personal hardships. When men such as our Dad are gone, who lived life to its fullest, the good times and the bad times, there's a big hole in our hearts. Our Dad was one of those guys.
Dad's lifelong passion was the quirky little town in eastern North Carolina named Tarboro where he spent his childhood. His devotion to the town never wavered. Even in his retired years, he spent a lot of his time and money on his little community. The museum board, historical society, the community art collection.
Decades before in the early 1960's, Dad would love to caravan our family and friends from Tarboro down to Atlantic Beach NC for a week at the beach. As grandchildren arrived, the tradition continued until 2015 when he and Mom were just too feeble to keep going. Now they'll be with us in spirit as the Atlantic Beach vacations continue for the younger generations.
There were a couple of near farms and a home in Tarboro he inherited from his cousin. He enjoyed improving the house and managing the farms. But his greatest joy was the community and the characters who inhabited it. There was the large circle of friends and his involvement in meaningful community endeavors was a huge life extension for him. A life lesson for all of us to follow.
Professionally, Bill Bass was fascinated, really more like driven, in the buying and selling of antiques and oddities. In his own coarse way, he once remarked the antique trade to him was better than sex.
He and our mother, Bobbie Bass, would find antiques and furniture by the container loads on the many trips they took together to Europe. They brought them back to Dallas to their respective shops, W.M. Bass Showroom and The Corner Shop. Twenty-five years of pleasure.
When it came to the people around him, Dad didn't share his emotions much. He seemed reluctant to pause for moments of sentimentality. Growing up in the Great Depression can do that. Although in the last months he did reflect on several occasions to son, Brendan, and daughter, Margaret, that he was happy and content.
This is what every adult daughter and son wish to hear at the end of a parent's life. Maybe it was his way of saying all is good at my end. My children and grandchildren have turned out well, I took my marriage to the end, my life has few regrets, I created a multigenerational legacy. I am ready to go.
Dad will be missed by all of us. He helped many along the way. Students and teachers at Dealey Montessori School, The Happy Warrior Society, The Kiwanis Club, Church of the Holy Communion and the Dallas County Republican Party.
Below are those who will miss him the most as we remember, reflect and honor his indomitable character and lifelong commitment to grumpy good cheer.
-Daughter, Margaret Watson and husband Brad
-Son, Brendan Bass and wife Tina
-Granddaughters, Eleanor and Emily Watson
-Grandsons, Cullen Bass and wife Erika, Spencer Bass and fiancée Ann Fitzgerald and William Bass
-Great granddaughter, Mabrey Bass
A special thanks to the staff and residents at Belmont Village Turtle Creek. who extended much kindness to both of our parents in the last years of their lives.
A memorial for both Bobbie and Bill will take place on the family farm in Tarboro NC on Easter weekend, April 2023.
Brendan Bass and Margaret Bass Watson
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Bassett Family Association Database
1927 - 2022 (95 years)