Obituary of Bill Cothran

Bill Cothran passed away peacefully at home Tuesday evening, January 2, 2018, with his family near.Billy Herbert “Bill” Cothran was born September 18, 1936 in Memphis, TN to A. Herbert Cothran and Gwyneth Higginbotham Cothran.Bill attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX receiving a bachelors degree in Bible and English and pursued post graduate studies at Texas Tech and Texas Christian University, receiving a Master’s Degree in Liberal Arts from TCU.He married Theresa Yarbrough of Rome, GA on May 7th, 1966, in the Fleming Chapel of Broadway Baptist Church. Bill and Theresa established roots in Fort Worth and purchased a home on the west side in 1969, remaining there to this day.He began his career as a juvenile probation officer for Tarrant County and quickly became the Superintendent of the Tarrant County Youth Center. Following his career in the public sector, Bill worked in Administration for IBM. In 1977, Bill established AD PRO, “The ADvertising PROfessionals” and ran his own successful small business for the next 35 years.Bill was a naturally inquisitive individual with varying interests which was evidenced in his eclectic hobbies: trains, baseball, Thursday night basketball, stamp collecting, nightly reading of the dictionary, photography, late night games of Acquire, general self-improvement, and travel.Bill believed in giving back and helping others. He always met everyone with a smile and a sincere inquiry of how you were doing. He was a member of the Grand Lodge of Texas Scottish Rite Free Masons and the Advertising Specialty Institute.Outside of his family, Bill spent most of his time supporting the ministries of Broadway Baptist Church. He continued his work with youth teaching numerous Sunday School classes, serving as the Director of the Middle School Department and, along with Theresa, serving as the Chapel Choir Coordinators for 25 years, taking hundreds of Texas teens to other locales nationally and internationally performing choral music and ministering to other communities through work programs. Bill was ordained as a Deacon in 1982 and received the distinction of Deacon Emeritus in 2016.Survivors: His wife of 51 years, Theresa Cothran; daughters, Tiffany McClain and husband, Brent; Tiera Hall and husband, Jason; grandchildren, Courtney and Christopher McClain and Audrey and Elise Hall.