William V. Tanner

Services for William Van Tanner, 84, of Gainesville are set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at Geo. J. Carroll and Son Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. David Howeth officiating. Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery, under the direction of Geo. J. Carroll and Son Funeral Home.

Mr. Tanner died Dec. 30, 2007, in Plano.

He was born April 25, 1923, in Gainesville to Harold and Elizabeth Jones Tanner. On April 24, 1943, he maried Billie Wolfe.

He graduated from high school in Gainesville and then attended North Texas State Teachers College in Denton. He was a member of the Aces of Collegeland, the program that later became the North Texas Lab Bands.

During the second semester of his senior year he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, rising to the rank of captain. He was flight commander for B-25 bombers in the South Pacific with 40 missions to his credit, and never lost a crewman or another plane under his command.

After the war he became a partner in Tanner Furniture, which at one time had 22 stores in five states. He played for the Gainesville Community Circus Band, as well as for generations of dancers in the area.

Survivors include: Children, Bob and Glenda Turner of Pinetops, N.C., John Tanner of Plano and David and Gina Tanner of Irving; sister Marian Tanner Westbrook of Dallas; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by his wife of 65 years on Jan. 5, 2007.

Visitation is scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Geo. J. Carroll Funeral Home.