Billy Sorenson

Bill Sorenson passed away peacefully on Friday, December 30, 2022, having lived a full life. Bill was born at home on July 31, 1931, in Haskell County, Texas to Rody and Oleta Sorenson. Interrupted only by his family’s brief migration to California for work during the Depression, Bill and his sister, Doris, grew up on the family’s farm in the community of Mattson, Haskell County, Texas.  After graduating from high school at Mattson, Bill attended John Tarleton Agricultural College (now Tarleton State University) briefly before joining the Army, serving from 1951 to 1953, principally with the 8th Military Police Company, 8th Infantry Division, before being honorably discharged with the rank of corporal.

Bill and the love of his life, Frankie Louise Robinson, were married in Haskell, Texas in ’51 while Bill was on leave following basic training and just prior to their moving to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where the first of two sons, Rickie, was born.  Bill and Frankie then returned home to West Texas after Bill’s time in the military and Bill immediately restarted working in the oil fields, having worked briefly on seismic crews prior to joining the service.  Bill began his more than 30 years in the oil well servicing business with Halliburton, first based in Anson, Texas, where Bill and Frankie’s second son, Tony, was born.  While Frankie concentrated on home and family and the raising of their two sons, Bill progressed in the oil well servicing business with a change to Dowell in ’62, moving the family to Midland and then to Colorado City, Texas in ’66, where Bill served as district manager.

Bill was a strong, hardworking man of faith, dedicated to his wife Frankie and the furthering of his sons, Tony and Rick; a man of encouragement that never smiled bigger than when with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren; a lover of the outdoors and a man with the patience to drag his sons and their friends behind a ski boat for hours.

During Bill’s 30 years in the oilfield industry, the family lived in Rule, Anson, Midland, Colorado City, Alice, Abilene, and Odessa, Texas and in Lafayette, Louisiana, with Bill retiring from the oil fields while in Odessa, Texas in the mid-1980s and beginning a second career in financial planning and insurance.  Bill and Frankie moved to Fort Worth in 2015 to be near their sons and their families. Bill was a Christian and a loving husband, father, and grandfather.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Rody and Oleta Sorenson; in-laws JD and Gertrude Robinson; and brother-in-law, JL Carpenter.

Bill is survived by his loving wife of 71 years, Frankie Sorenson; two sons, Rick Sorenson and wife, Karyn Sorenson, and Tony Sorenson and wife, Sheila Sorenson, all of Fort Worth, Texas; sister, Doris Carpenter of Wichita Falls, Texas; grandchildren; Sarah Pugliano and husband, Ryan Pugliano, Grant Sorenson and wife, Keegan Sorenson, and Grace Wynne and husband, David Wynne; great-granddaughters, Reagan Pugliano and Claire Sorenson, all of Fort Worth, Texas;  his niece, Karen Lucy, and nephew, Ronnie Carpenter, and their families.

The Sorenson family would like to express its appreciation for the comfort and care provided Bill during his later months and days by Chisholm Trail Estates Senior Living (Memory Care Living) and Alpha Omega Hospice.

A private service is to be held on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, at 12 noon in the Chapel at Winscott Road Funeral Home in Benbrook, Texas.

BURIAL: Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

MEMORIALS: In lieu of flowers, should one desire, charitable gifts may be made to the Cook Children’s Health Foundation (https://giving.cookchildrens.org/donate), or to a charity of one’s choice.