William "Bill" Noel Rayburn passed away December 9, 2010, surrounded by his family at Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas in Beaumont. Bill was born December 24, 1937, to Lucille and Jessie Juber "JJ" Rayburn of Fannett, Texas.
A lifelong resident of the Fannett area, Bill worked for Mobil Chemical Corporation for thirty-six years as a production supervisor. Prior to beginning his career with Mobil, he played college basketball for several years. Bill loved sports, deer hunting, fishing and spent many weekends camping and fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn while raising his children. After retirement from Mobil in 1997, Bill married Patty Mitchell Carter and got busy on the farm where he spent many enjoyable years enjoying farm and ranch life with Patty. If the hay and cattle could have been tended to from the beach, Bill and Patty would have spent a great deal more time at Crystal Beach. Bill recently completed construction on the new beach house after Hurricane Ike decided to make landfall on the doorstep of the previous cabin. To his friends and co-workers he was larger than life, a tall man with a commanding presence who had a talent for supervising others.
Bill is survived by his wife, Patty Carter Rayburn; daughters, Janice Constantine and her husband Joe of Lake Jackson, and Gwen Abshire and her husband Jesse of Pineland; son, Kyle Rayburn and his wife Annette of Winnie; grandsons, David Constantine, Jay Rayburn, and Dean and Tyler Cravy; granddaughters, Jennifer Constantine Fort, Lana Rayburn, Brooke Dodd, and Amanda, Jessica and Traci Abshire; five great grandchildren; brother, V.R. Rayburn and his wife Sara of Lufkin; sister, Marcelene Weeks Degeyter and her husband Earl of Groves; and brother-in-law, Louis Desalotte. Bill is also survived by the mother of his children, Barbara Craigen Rayburn; his step-son, Reagan Tye Carter; and step-daughter, Toni Carter Spencer; best buddy, Manuel "Victor" Santos; and his favorite companion, Buffy Marie, his Shih Tzu dog.
Bill is preceded in death by his daughter, Traci Rayburn Cravy; sister, Joyce Desalotte; brother, Herald Rayburn; and step-daughter, Trish Carter Hamilton.
Family and friends are invited to attend Bill’s funeral service at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 14, 2010, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont with interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 4955 Pine Street, Beaumont. There will be a gathering of his family and friends beginning at 4:00 p.m. Monday, December 13, 2010, at Broussard’s.
In lieu of flowers, his family requests memorial contributions may be made to MD Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4866, Houston, Texas 77210 in memory of Trish Carter Hamilton.
