William "Bill" Clanahan

William “Bill” Clanahan passed away on Thursday, July 11, 2024 in Tomball, TX after a hard fought battle with glioblastoma.

Bill was born July 15, 1956, in Hobart, Oklahoma to Elmer and Helen Clanahan. He graduated Hobart High School in 1974 and went on to attend Oklahoma University where he played the trombone in The Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band and performed in the 1976 Orange Bowl half-time show. Bill was a Sooner to the core and never failed to return “Boomer” when he heard a “Sooner”.

Shortly after college, he began his career in rubber manufacturing with CR Industries in Hobart, Oklahoma, where he would eventually meet his beloved wife, Mickey. They were wed on September 2, 1989 and went on to have twin girls, Brooke and Haley and a son, Drew.

In 1994, they relocated to Clifton Forge, Virginia where they lived for four years before the family moved to Brenham, Texas in 1997. Bill was a Product Engineer at Longwood Elastomers, then with TFE Company, Inc. He returned to Wabtec/Longwood in 2016 for the remainder of his career until his retirement on January 5, 2024.

Bill loved his family beyond measure and their time together was always filled with love and laughter. Bill never met a stranger and would do anything he could to help anyone in need. He was a jack of all trades and could fix most things. He loved working on cars and made numerous trips over the years to rescue stranded family and friends from a dead car battery or empty gas tank, no matter how far or the time of day.

In his family’s younger years, he enjoyed coaching both his son’s and daughter’s soccer teams from youth to high school and never missed a college soccer game. He was passionate about coaching and being a role model for his kids and his ‘bonus kids’. He loved being known as ‘Coach Clanahan’. He was an Elder of the First Christian Church of Brenham where he attended for the past twenty-five years. He was the Treasurer for the Brenham Noon Lions Club where he worked closely with BISD school nurses to provide glasses for local children in need. He had a love for cars, particularly his ’54 crimson and cream Studebaker, “The Boz” which he had been restoring over the last several years.

Bill is preceded in death by his parents Elmer and Helen Clanahan and his mother-in-law Dorothy Murphy.

Bill is survived by his wife of 35 years Mickey, daughter Brooke Folse and her husband Greg, daughter Haley Koester and her husband Mike and son Drew Clanahan and his wife Katy; grandchildren Savanna Clanahan and Logan Clanahan; sister Susie Pickthorn and husband David; nieces and nephews April Walker, Dawn Santiago, Rick Walker and his wife Erica, Mike Willingham and his wife Angela, and Doug Willingham and his wife Shannon.

Memorial Services will be held at 10:00 on Saturday, July 20 at First Christian Church at 306 Cottonwood St, Brenham, TX. A graveside service will be held at Lone Star Cemetery in Rocky, Oklahoma at 10:00 Saturday, July 27.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorials be made to the First Christian Church Restoration Project (401 Sycamore St., Brenham, TX 77833) or Brenham Noon Lions Club (P.O. Box 101, Brenham, TX 77834).

Services are in the care of Brenham Memorial Chapel, 2300 Stringer St., Brenham, TX
77833. 979.836.3611 Memories may be shared at www.BrenhamMemorialChapel.com