William Henry Calhoon, Sr. (Bill) of Porterdale passed away May 13, 2015 in Covington at the age of 77. A memorial service will be held at The Baptist Tabernacle, 10119 Access Road, Covington, Georgia 30014, on Sunday, May 31, 2015, at 4 pm. Memorial donations, instead of flowers, may be made to The Baptist Tabernacle for the Children’s Ministry and Reformers Unanimous Ministry.
Bill was born in Columbus, Ohio, October 15, 1937, one of five children to Clair and Virginia Powell Calhoon. At the age of 12, he relocated with his family to Atlanta, where he graduated from Avondale High School. He studied music at Stetson University and earned a master’s degree at North Texas State University. A gifted musician, he was active in the professional music community in Atlanta for many years, performing with various orchestras, including the Atlanta Symphony and Atlanta Pops. He also arranged and composed music and taught band at numerous area schools, passing on his love of music and joy of performance to his students. With his skills as an educator, he later branched out into teaching English, history, science, and computer science at Tabernacle Christian School for several years.
He was a very active member in his church and had a heart for evangelism and winning souls for Christ. He started a prison ministry in 1997 to share God’s Word at prisons and young offender boot camps. Bill wrote sermons and published devotionals specifically for inmates which he also sent out nationally. He founded and for many years ran a program to provide housing and discipleship to parolees. In 1999, he was ordained as a minister in order to be more effective in his prison ministry.
Other passions included children’s ministry and a bus ministry which he started to transport children to church. His desire to help those caught in addictions led him to devote time to a local Reformers Unanimous chapter. He wrote numerous essays and sermons, many of which he delivered on a local radio broadcast each week for six years. He also participated in the church music ministry as a member of the choir and an instrumentalist.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, Thomas, Robert, and James. He is survived by his three children, George Calhoon of Oxford, Georgia, Bill Calhoon, Jr. (Terra) of Huntsville, Alabama, and Jane Lyttle (Chris) of Sugar Land, Texas; six grandchildren, Bradford Calhoon, James Lyttle, Michael Calhoon, Islay Lyttle, Isobel Lyttle, and Anna Grace Calhoon; his sister, Margaret Montgomery; sister-in-law, Beverly Calhoon; former wife (1959-1987), Margaret Calhoon; nieces, Erin Costlow (Mike) and Kelly Calhoon.
