Delbert Calvert Obituary

Bill Calvert passed away peacefully in his home in Hideaway, Texas on April 1, 2017. A memorial celebration will be held Saturday, April 8 at 10:30 in the chapel of Caudle-Rutledge-Daugherty Funeral Home in Lindale, Texas. A light lunch will follow for friends and family at the Calvert home, 219 Clubview Drive, Hideaway, Texas. Donations in his honor may be sent to Big Creek Cemetery, c/o Jerry Kemble Treasurer, 21360 U.U. Highway, Bosworth, MO the resting place of many generations of Calverts.



Bill was born on a small farm without indoor plumbing near Bosworth MO on January 29, 1927, From his humble beginnings he rose to the top of his profession both domestically and internationally. Immediately after high school, he entered the U.S. Army and served until the a year after the war ended. Shortly after returning to Bosworth he married and worked for the railroad as a section hand.

After a couple of years he packed his wife and young baby and enrolled in the University of Missouri. He earned a degree in Civil Engineering while working part time and summers for the Santa Fe Railroad. After graduation, he started his career at Phillips Petroleum Company.



Bill moved up the corporate ladder with positions at Texas Eastern Transmission Company and Northern Natural Gas Company. He moved to Tulsa, Okla in 1968 as Executive Vice President of Williams Pipe Line Company. Six months later he became president of that company and in 1971 was elected Executive President and a Director of the parent company, The Williams Companies. While in that position he was CEO of several companies that included pipeline, steel, retail, LPG gas, and other enterprises from Pennsylvania to Hawaii. In 1975 he was handed the additional job of developing the new Williams Exploration Company which became a leader in the oil and gas industry. He was named Oil Man of the Year in Oklahoma. By 1978, he was in charge of Agrico Chemical Company's worldwide operation, negotiating and doing business with representatives of more than 50 companies located all over the world. In 1985 he was elected Vice Chairman of the Board of The Williams Companies. He resigned and at the request of the state republican party ran for U. S. Congress from the First District. To the disappointment of many, he was not elected and then served as President and then CEO of Williams Technologies in Tulsa until his retirement.



He served in advisory posts under three presidents, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Regan. He was on the advisory committee to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy and on the Executive Committee of the International Fertilizer in Paris, France. Under Presidents Nixon and Ford, Bill served as Chairman of a Federal Energy Administration task force and on the U. S. Department of Interior Emergency Adivsory Committee for National Gas. During his years with Williams he had private meetings with the Presidents and Prime Ministers of several counties of the world and with the King of Thailand, an honor afforded few foreigners.



While Bill was handling his many responsibilities in the business world, he served his city, his state and his university, being President of the Indian Nations Council of the Boy Scouts where is received the Silver Beaver Award, the President of the Board of Goodwill of Tulsa, The Tulsa Fairgrounds Authority and a trustee of the Tulsa Port Authority. Bill was commissioned to serve the Oklahoma State Board for Property and Casualty Rates. He was President of the Jefferson Board of Trustees of the University of Missouri and was a founding member and president of the University of Missouri Development Fund which has raised millions of dollars for the University. He was a member of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of the College of Civil Engineering and awarded the Faculty Alumni Award in 1971 by the University of Missouri, an honor given to less than fifteen people a year by this university of over 33,000 students.

Bill has two sons, Gary DeWayne Calvert who is married to Slavica Savovic' Calvert and Danial Lynn Calvert, married to Wendy Cook Calvert and acquired two young children, Holly Jane Hurst Martini and Allen Tucker Hurst who he reared as his own when he married Melva "Tinka" Calvert, his partner and love of his life for over forty-five years.



He was from a family of six children. His father, William Kinley Calvert, mother, Ruby Barrier Calvert, and one brother, Delferd Calvert predeceased him. He has, three surviving brothers Lt. Col. Donald Calvert (RET) married to Carmelita Calvert, David Calvert married to Loretta Calvert, and Col. Dorral "Jim" Calvert (RET), married to Jolynn Calvert, and one sister Ruth Case and her husband George. He and Tinka have numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren to enrich their retirement years.



Bill, an avid golfer, was a past member of Southern Hills Country Club, Garden of the Gods Club, Waikoloa Golf Club, The International Golf Club at Castle Rock, CO. and Hideaway Golf Association. He and Tinka first retired in Colorado and Hawaii. They chose Hideaway, Texas as their final home to be near Tinka's sister Muff and her husband Leigh Secrest and closer to other family members. Bill was a member of Woodland Acres Baptist Church in Tulsa and The Open Door Sunday School class of First Methodist Church of Lindale.



He was a man that achieved the "American Dream" and attempted to give back to his country that made it possible. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.