William David Gurley, 87, better known as Bill or Billy, of Millington, TN, was born on Thursday, May 7th, 1936, and went home to drive that big rig in the sky, on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024, just two weeks prior to his 88th birthday. He was surrounded by family at his side. Bill had been struggling with his health for about a year, declining rather rapidly over the last six months.

He was preceded in death by his parents Beatrice Clark Gurley and Carl William Gurley, his brothers Danny Gurley and Jesse Gurley, his oldest daughter, Barbara Gurley Melton (David), his three wives (not all at once) Betty Joyce Gurley, Doris Evelyn Gurley, and Louise Ellen Gurley, also his grandson Joey Phelps and great-grandson Ryan Tackett.

Bill was survived by his daughter Louise Gurley (Memphis, TN), sisters Marilyn Gurley (Memphis, TN) and Carol Gurley Powell (Fairhope, AL), stepsons Bud Phelps (Memphis, TN), Raul Romero (Tammy) of Bartlett, TN, Tony Romero (Ligia) of Tampa, FL, and Allan Romero (Geraldine) of Ocala, FL. He was also survived by 11 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. He still had a few friends but outlived most of his friends.

Bill went to Southside High School, here in Memphis, then started his life-long career of truck driving. He began driving locally for Sears & Roebuck, then Bowman Transportation, and then moved to over-the-road with Bowman, moving on to Ozark Transrtation, and last Old Dominion. All the drivers knew him as "Giddy-up-Go." He loved the road and where it would take him. When he was home for his two or three days and would run errands with the family, he would have to be reminded that he was not in that big rig and to watch where he was going.

Bill retired from truck driving in his mid-60s, but couldn't stand the thought of not driving from point A to B for someone other than himself, so he went to work for Enterprise Rental Car, picking up new cars for their fleet or delivering old fleet cars to used car dealerships. After a few years of driving cars around, he finally truly retired and picked up country dancing, including line dancing. He would join others at various senior citizen centers and VFWs, The Strand (when it was open), Berclair Civic Center, and more on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

There was one thing he loved more than truck driving, and that was the phone. There will now be several people waiting for that phone to ring to hear, "How you doing?" or "What's going on?" The greatest thing ever invented for him was the phone, especially the cordless and cellular phones. As they say today, "If you know, you know!"

Funeral services will begin 2pm on Thursday, May 2, 2024, with visitation at 1pm, at Forest Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park East, 2440 Whitten Road, Memphis, TN 38133.