Obituary of William E. "Bill" Bixby

CW3 William E. “Bill” Bixby (United States Army) a resident of Skipperville died Monday, May 12, 2025 at his home with his family by his side. Bill was 78 years old. Funeral services for CW3 Bixby will be held 11:00 A.M. Friday, May 16, 2025, in the Chapel of Holman Funeral Home in Ozark with Reverend Tim Sewell officiating, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. Interment will follow in Skipperville Community Cemetery with Military Honors followed by a special flyby from the Friends of Army Aviation in Ozark. The family will receive friends at the funeral home in Ozark Friday from 10:00 A.M. until service time. Serving as pallbearers will be Larry Baker, Bill Baker, Heath Whatley, Wade Whatley, Branden Parkinson and Jonathan Tharpe. Bill was born August 16, 1946 in Flint, Michigan, the younger child of Jack and Neva Bixby. His life was devoted to his Lord, his family, and his country. Bill loved flying, restoring cars, riding motorcycles and playing the guitar. His mother made up an album for him entitled “Our Mobile Bill”. He was constantly moving in anything mechanical. He inherited his love of flying from his dad who was a career pilot. Bill passed that love on to his son, Jack, also a career pilot. When Vietnam came along, Bill enlisted in the Army as a helicopter pilot. As part of the 1st Air Cavalry, he flew reconnaissance his first six months in Vietnam, and then became Chief Pilot for General Oscar Davis. Bill’s military honors include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Meal, the Air Medal, and the Air Medal with 32 Oak Leaf Clusters. He flew 832 combat flights in theater. After his time in the Army, Bill pursued other ventures, but he always returned to flying. He became Chief Pilot for Sundstrand Corporation in Rockford, Illinois, later International Technologies, was Captain at Midway Airlines in Chicago, Illinois, flying an MD80. He owned and operated Bixby Aviation, Inc., and ended his aviation career in 2017 as a flight instructor for Flight Safety in Daleville, Alabama. When Bill was asked about the DFC, he would only say, “I went where I wasn’t supposed to go, did what I wasn’t supposed to do, and got out”. He was a proud member of the Disabled American Veterans in Ozark, serving as an officer for a time. In serving his Lord, Bill taught Sunday School classes and led Bible studies during his time in Illinois. His parents, his sister, Nancy and his brother-in-law, Bill preceded Bill in death. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Marlo Baker Bixby of Skipperville, Alabama; son, Jack and daughter-in-law, Sammi of Hardy, Virginia; daughter, Anna Parkinson and son-in-law, Branden of Enterprise, Alabama; seven grandchildren, Sarah Bixby Ayers and husband, Cody of Moneta, Virginia, Olivia Bixby of Hardy, Virginia, Braiden Parkinson, Tyler Jones, Abby Parkinson, Lilah Parkinson, and Neva Parkinson of Enterprise, Alabama; and two great grandchildren, Hadley Ayers and Bowen Ayers. The family would like to thank Nicole of Wiregrass Homecare, Heather, Kathy, and other members of Southern Care Hospice Services for the loving and tender care given to Bill and his family. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his memory to Alzheimer’s Association Alabama Chapter, Birmingham Office, 1 Metroplex Drive #230, Birmingham, Alabama 35209; or to Disabled American Veterans, P. O. Box 57, Ozark, Alabama 36361.