William Briscoe Pawley

William Briscoe Pawley, 89, of Mount Sterling, died Jan. 1, 2011.

Born April 13, 1921, in Rineyville, he was the son of the late George Briscoe and Ida Mae Curtin Pawley and foster son of the late Henry Berry and Ruby Susie Coffman Berry Meredith.

He played basketball for the Rineyville High School Red Devils in 1941 and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943. He was a member of the 126th Infantry 32nd Division Pacific Theater during World War II, and his division logged 13,000 hours of combat, more than any other division during the war. With a rank of technical sergeant, he received the American Theater Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon, three Bronze Stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, two Bronze Stars, Good Conduct Medal and Victory Medal. He attended Western Kentucky University and played football before the war and graduated from the University of Kentucky post-war. He came to Mount Sterling to teach the Veterans Farm Program in 1948 and was also a farmer and insurance agent, retiring from Farm Bureau Insurance in 1987.

He was a member of the American Legion Post 22 Honor Guard, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Cattlemen’s Association, Montgomery County Fair Board and Montgomery Farm Bureau.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred Katherine Long; two sisters, Mildred Rose Pawley-Yates Keal and Sarah Elizabeth Curtin: and foster family member Jane Ann Berry Wise.

Survivors include three children, Wayne Briscoe (Ella) Pawley, George Lindon (Dora) Pawley and Lee Long Pawley (Mike) Schweighardt; six grandchildren, Morgan Suzanne Pawley, George Ryan Pawley, Michael Blake Pawley, Hunter Allen Waller, Christopher Chandler, and Gillian Ramsel; a great-grandchild, Griffen Cole James; a brother, Johnnie Stephen Pawley of Vine Grove; a sister, Dorothy Mae Pawley Shephard of Thornville, Ohio; foster family members, James Rudolph Berry of Vine Grove, Grover Kenneth Berry of Louisville, Henrietta Berry Bolton of Elizabethtown and Marilyn Sue Berry Cole of Austin, Texas; and two sisters-in-law, Sharon Long (Glenn) McNabb of Lexington, and Linda Long (John) Donaldson of Omaha, Neb.

A funeral Mass was held Jan. 4 at St. Patrick Church, with the Rev. Jacob Kurian officiating. Burial was in Machpelah Cemetery.

Pallbearers were Adrian Arnold, Berkley Mark, Calvin Hunt, Gary Orme, Robert Amburgey and Danny Boone Razor. Honorary pallbearers were James Ed Dennis and the Farm Bureau Board of Directors.

Donations are suggested to St. Patrick Church of American Legion Post No. 22. Military rites were performed by American Legion Post No. 22 Honor Guard.

Taul Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.