WILLIAM C. GAINES

Feb. 6, 1923 - Aug. 15, 2012
SOUTH BEND - William Carroll Gaines, 89, of South Bend, Indiana, went home to meet the Lord on Wednesday, August 15, 2012, at the Center for Hospice Care of South Bend. He was born February 6, 1923, to the union of Oscar Raymond and Mary Ann Gaines in South Bend, Indiana.

Upon graduation from Central High School, William took a job on the railroad dock at Studebaker.

He was baptized at an early age at Pilgrim Baptist Church where he was a lifetime member.

William was drafted into the Army at age 22. While he was stationed in the South Pacific, he suffered from malaria. He also suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, which we always thought of as "shell shocked." William leaves to cherish his memory one sister, Mary Jane Carter, St. Louis, Missouri; 22 nieces and nephews, Mary Katherine (John) Ivory, Gloria Jones, Catherine (James) King and Robert Gaines, his caretaker - South Bend, Indiana, William Carroll (Sandra) Coldmon, Jackie Gaines, Atlanta, Georgia, Susan Wilson, Vernetta Holmes, Julia Tibbs, Priscilla Edwards, St. Louis, Missouri, Sandra English, Fairview Heights, Illinois, Dennis (Luann) Gaines, Dana Point, California, Nicole Gaines, Seattle, Washington, Lois Spears, Kileen, Texas, Stanford Williams, Indianapolis, Indiana, Thomas (Lisa) Williams, Morristown, New Jersey, Nancy Voham, Chandler, Arizona, Patricia Richardson, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, Yolanda Gaines, Memphis, Tennessee, Raymond Gaines, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Paul Hill, San Antonio, Texas; and many great- and great-great-nieces and nephews.

William Gaines was preceded in death by 8 sisters and 2 brothers, Willie Ida Gaines, Alice Coldmon, Lucille Boyd, Theresa Aldridge, Wilma Dorsey, Catherine Williams, Naomi Miller, Margaret Abram, Oscar Raymond Jr. and Robert Gaines.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Hospice House of South Bend for the excellent care of our brother/uncle.

Visitation will be today, August 23, 2012, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Clark-O'Neal Funeral Home Inc., 2702 Lincoln Way West. Funeral service will be Friday, August 24, 2012, in Pilgrim Baptist Church, 116 N. Birdsell Street, South Bend, at 11:00 a.m., with visitation one hour before the service. Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery. Visit www.clarkoneal.com to sign his guestbook. Clark-O'Neal Funeral Home Inc. has been entrusted with arrangements. "Our family chain is broken and nothing seems the same but as he calls us one by one the chain will link again."

Published by South Bend Tribune on Aug. 23, 2012.

01/20/2023 EJS