Bill Bullard

Bill Bullard of Laurinburg, North Carolina passed away on November 19, 2022, at the age of ninety-five. 

Bill was born August 31, 1927, to the late Judson and Bessie Bullard.  He was the youngest of three children and is predeceased by his brother, J.D. and his sister, Madalene.  Bill played varsity football for Laurinburg High School in 1944 and 1945, during which the Fighting Scots won the NC State Championship both years and didn’t lose a single game.  Bill went on to Wake Forest College, where he played football as a freshman for the Deacons in the first Gator Bowl in 1946.  The Deacs defeated South Carolina and finished the year ranked #19 in the AP Poll.  He was drafted prior to the completion of his freshman year and served in the United States Army for a year and a half at Fort Mead, Maryland where he was Honorably Discharged on March 4, 1947.  He returned to graduate from Wake Forest in 1950, electing to finish his education on the GI Bill rather than playing three more years of leather helmet football. 

Bill returned to Laurinburg after graduation and worked and played baseball for the textile mill teams at the time.  He had options to play in the professional baseball leagues, but there was a far more promising option available, which was to marry his sweetheart Bee Sanford in 1954.  Bill later took over his father’s store on Church Street next to the old Laurinburg High School and operated Bullard Furniture Company at that location until approximately 1994.  His athletic endeavors turned to the golf course in his adult years, where he maintained a single digit handicap and made enduring lifelong friends.

Above all, he was a Christian and a humble man who lived his life unapologetically in service of the Lord.  Bill and Bee faithfully attended First Baptist Church of Laurinburg, where Bill had been a member for more than eighty-five years at the time of his death.  Bee Bullard passed away on Mother’s Day in 2021 and is now reunited with her beloved husband of almost sixty-seven years. 

Bill is survived by his three sons, Tim Bullard of Allentown, PA and his wife Diane, Gray Bullard of Concord, NC and his wife Kirby, Dan Bullard of Elon, NC and his wife Lisa.  He is also survived by his six grandchildren Conor Bullard of Allentown, PA, Seth Bullard of Charlotte, NC and his wife Nancy, Owen Bullard of Houston, TX and his wife Candis, Fran Bullard of New York City, Harper Bullard of New York City, Garrison Bullard, a senior at UNC-CH, and his one-year-old great grandson, Sam. 

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 26, at 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Laurinburg.  Family will receive friends following the service at the church.   Burial will be at 1:00 p.m. in Hillside Memorial Park.

The family asks that you consider monetary gifts to Scotland Regional Hospice in lieu of flowers.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Bill Bullard, please visit our floral store.