William Alan Dickens (Bill) of Bryan, Texas, lost his battle with cancer and passed away peacefully in his home December 31, 2018. He will be honored with a Celebration of Life, officiated by Certified Celebrant Dawn Lee Wakefield, at 2pm Monday, January 7, 2019, at Callaway-Jones Funeral Center, 3001 S. College Ave in Bryan. A reception with light refreshments will follow immediately in the Pecan Room at Callaway-Jones.
Bill was born August 21, 1947, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Dr. William Robert Dickens of Greenville, Texas, and Betty Jane Wagner Dickens of Ashland, Kentucky. Bill lived an unusual and exciting life. His love of reptiles took him many places where he met many different people. He wrote a book, “Following the Serpent’s Trail,” which chronicles many of his adventures from his childhood through his adult life. He received his doctorate in the field of archaeology from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, which also took him on many an adventure. He traveled to other countries, like Jordan and Israel, on archaeological digs. Bill also had one of his exhibits at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.
Bill was a researcher, which aided in another subject that he enjoyed, genealogy. He was extremely proud of the fact that he is the 5th great grandnephew of Daniel Boone. Also that he is a direct descendant of Benjamin Cutbirth, Longhunter, and traveling companion of Daniel. Bill’s great aunt, Gussie Nell Davis, founded the famous Kilgore Rangerettes of Kilgore, Texas, in 1939.
Bill was quite a character and will be missed by many. He will be remembered always.
Bill is survived by his brother, Robert Mason Dickens from San Diego, California, and his sister Judith Ann Dickens from Parrottsville, Tennessee. He is also survived by his nephew, Jesse Jerome Paul from Paoli, Indiana, and his niece, Autumn Rose Paul from Connersville, Indiana. He is also survived by his daughter, Stacie Lynn Adams and grandson, Noah Adams, from Leander, Texas. He is also survived by his daughter, Lori Ann Carroll, her husband Ben, and two grandsons, Christian Alan Carroll and Jacob Timothy Carroll, from Cedar Park, Texas. Bill was preceded in death by his grandson, Taylor Anthony Carroll, from Cedar Park, Texas.
Our VBF!! RIP!!! No more pain.
You will ALWAYS be in my heart.
The times we have had. Great time’s..
It’s going to be very hard going through life without Wild Bill.
Burd will understand.
My deepest smpathy’s go out to Bill’s family.
Forever VBF,
Nancy Weed
I would like to give my condolences to Bill’s family. I hope I was as good as Friend to Bill, as he was to me.
Bill, you will be missed beyond words and the World is a little less amazing without you. You enthusiasm for animals, artifacts, books, history, firearms, fossils and cars was contagious. It’s hard to put my feelings into a few sentences- please know you’ll never be forgotten. Farewell buddy.
Bill, you were always a little larger than life to ME, but at the same time you were also a warm and special friend to me! I will NEVER forget the great trips that we took together all over South Texas! I know that I could say so much more, but I’ll close by simply saying how grateful I will always be for everything that we shared together and for the privilege of having known you! I could write a book, but the one YOU ALREADY wrote would always be better! If it’s even possible, I’m certain that Bill’s family misses you even more than I do, and they have my condolences. Good hunting up in Heaven, Bill….your friends and family already miss you!
Still can’t believe it. Bill was like one of those people you figured would always be around. Quite an adventurer. Was interested it more things than he had time for. Was a pleasure to know him and he will surely missed!
Just heard about Bill. Bill and I tramped alot of the same ground doing archaeology in central Texas and Jordan. We chewed alot of the same dirt and had many good times doing lithic analysis at Texas A&M during graduate school. Im very sorry to hear of his passing but I wish his family and friends my deepest heartfelt condolences. I remember him fondly.
I first met Bill when he was a student at Texas A&M and we shared many memories such as driving backroads and shopping at antique stores. I’m a professional archaeologist and he was my go to person for stone tool analysis. He was able to speak intelligently on a variety of subjects such as archaeology, geology, fossils, reptiles, firearms, to name a few and I spent many hours at his house listening to his stories. He will be missed by many and I am saddened that he left us so early in life.
I was so sorry to hear about Bill’s illness and his passing. God bless and strengthen and comfort all of you during this time of loss.
Bill was an amazing knapper. We were so lucky to have him at Texas A&M. He contributed so much to what we know about my face and blade technology at the Gault site, Texas. He was always willing to share his knowledge and never stingy with his time. I am a better archaeologist for knowing him! He will be missed.
Our Deepest Sympathy to the family of Bill Dickens. We always enjoyed his visits to our shop and auctions where he occasionally left some of his surplus of collections for us to sell. He always had wonderful fascinating tales to tell about items he would leave for auction.
We highly respected for his knowledge and expertise and know that he shall be missed by many.
We together felt God’s presence . True story. We sat on Bills front porch once watching a thunderstorm rolling toward us. Lightning was flashing up in the clouds. It started raining. I was reenacting Sgt. Dan’s line in Forest Gump in the storm ” come on God , I’m not scared , show me what you got.” POW”” A bolt of lightning struck the tree across the street from us. Bark exploded off the tree, fire blazed out of an explosion. He looked into my eyes and said you really need to quit talking to God like that”. We felt Jesus . Bill was my Medicine Man to help me feel Mother Nature , Mother Earth and the Great Spirit in that moment. Go by and see the tree, my burning bush. I will miss visiting him on the porch.
I was doing part of a lithic (stone tool) analysis yesterday and had a couple of queries about a particular artifact. It would have been right up Bill’s alley to provide an answer or some lively discussion about the particulars of this piece…the intricacies of the flake scar patterns and the use wear. While I couldnt call up Bill or travel to see him, it was nice to be able to consult an article in which he was one of the authors…there was part of my answer. Bill is still doing archaeology and likely will for decades to come.
Trying to findout if this is the bill that i knew as a teenager in cincinnati that i traveled to south texas to collect snakes with when we were both about 18. If so, i cared a great deal for him and pass on my sympathy to his family.