John William (Bill) Oliver, 89, died Thursday at Huntsville Hospital. There will be a 2 p.m. graveside service Sunday at Roselawn Cemetery. Visitation is from noon until 1:30 p.m. at Spry Funeral Home, Athens. Mr. Oliver was born March 4, 1926, in Sheffield, Alabama to Winston (Wink) Blanton and Martha Jane Gregory Oliver. He was predeceased by his parents, three older brothers, four older sisters, and his first wife, Christine Laughter Hughes Oliver.
Bill went to Sheffield High School and was a World War II Navy veteran in the Philippines and Soloman Islands. In 1947, Bill began his career with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 558 and had been a member for 42 years. He worked at Gallatin Steam Plant, Colbert Steam Plant, Widow’s Creek Steam Plant, and Paradise Steam Plant. He also worked at Guntersville Dam and at Redstone Arsenal where he worked on the xray mirror. He was also assistant business agent for several years in the Huntsville office. In 1967, Bill went to Brown’s Ferry Nuclear Plant as the first electrician on the job and spent his last ten years of employment with TVA on the planning committee when he retired in March of 1988. Bill was a longtime member of the Killen Masonic Lodge No. 788 and the American Legion Post 49. He was a great, loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend who enjoyed baseball, gardening, and his cats.
He is survived by his wife, Sue Wheeler Oliver, Harvest; two daughters, Janey Tucker (John), Florence, and Mary Jo Cramer (David), Montana; two stepdaughters, Patsy Stutts, Killen, and Kay Smith (Ronnie), Harvest; and three stepsons, Charles Lee Hughes, Tuscumbia, Danny Hughes, Florence, and Joe Chappell, Hanceville.
Pallbearers will be grandsons. Honorary pallbearers will be members of IBEW No. 558 Retirees Club.
