William Carroll Mayes,  Age 83 – 20th of July, 1941- 26th of Oct 2024.  Known as "Carroll" to much of our extended family and as "Bill" or "Dad" to the rest of us, he has gone to look over us from Heaven, and to be with those waiting for him there...

He was born in Knoxville, TN in July 1941 to William Thomas Buchanan Mayes and Edna Mayes (Owenby), as the baby brother to his older sisters Mary and June. He attended South Knoxville High School, before driving a school bus, after his family moved to Columbus, MS in 1958.  He was a Vietnam-era veteran who joined the Air Force in 1961 for approximately 8 years.  He sometimes joked that, "...because I had correctly identified a 'ground' symbol on a test, the Air Force thought I was an ideal candidate for electronics..."  He worked for about a year at Keesler AFB, then moved to Nouasseur Air Base in Morocco, before settling back to FE Warren AFB in Cheyenne, WY in 1963.  He did a lot of communications work for missile silos out west, until he was moved to Shaw AFB, SC. When he had the chance, he volunteered to become an electronics instructor back at Keesler in 1965.

He left the Air Force and got a job with Federal Electric at Cape Canaveral thru an old high school friend.  He worked there until 1970 when he moved to Kingwood, WV and became a maintenance engineer for COMSAT Corporation, at a satellite earth station near Rowlesburg, WV.  He and his long-time love Sherry Elaine Mayes moved from Grafton, WV to Melbourne, FL in 1987.

He was deeply involved and committed to the support of the local Moose lodge in Grafton, and spent many countless hours remodeling and volunteering to help the lodge fund-raise and become financially stable.  He and Sherry both worked tirelessly to help raise money for MooseHeart, MooseHaven and other worthy causes.  After he and Sherry moved to Melbourne, they worked equally hard to ensure their new Moose lodge and members also had the benefit of his handy "Mr. Fix-it" enthusiasm, ideas and expertise, and her help everywhere, throughout the club.

He was proceeded in death by his wife Sherry E. Mayes, his Mother Edna and Father William, as well as both of his dear sisters June W. Whitehead of Columbus, MS, and Mary R. Napier of Lexington, KY.

He is now survived by William Thomas (and Lisa) Mayes, Karen Ann (and James) Gilreath, and Billie Jo (and Fred) Brand, as well as his granddaughter Kaitlyn Susanne Sliker, and grandsons William James Mayes and Andrew Thomas Mayes, and great-grandchildren Andrew Thomas Mayes, Jr., and Hazel Ann Mayes.

We are currently looking into the possibility of having Dad & Sherry interred together at the National Cemetery in Grafton, WV—but there will be a celebration-of-life gathering to remember him at the Melbourne Moose Lodge 1406 in Melbourne, FL on 12 January, 2025 at Noon.