William "Billy" Harold Hoole, Jr., 83, of Ninety Six, widower of Martha Ann Scott Hoole, passed away Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Hospice House.

Born in Deckerville, Michigan on October 10, 1939, he was the only child of the late Sara Armstrong Hoole and William Harold Hoole. He moved with his family to South Carolina at the age of 2 and lived the rest of his life there.

Billy graduated from Edisto High School in Cordova, SC and attended North Greenville College and Erskine College. He began his teaching career in 1968 at the G. Frank Russell Career Center, the year the school opened. He retired from teaching electricity in June 1996. He was a very dedicated teacher and remained in contact with his students for many years.

He opened a sporting goods business, Sportsman's Friend, Inc. in March 1979 and remained a part of the business with his son-in-law, Chuck Camp, until retiring the business in 2013. Billy was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed fishing and hunting all of his adult like. He and his friend, Roland McInville began the Bowers Rodgers Bass Tournament in 1992 and continued this to benefit the children of the Bowers Rodgers Home for many years. This was a very important project to him. He was a member of the Neil Cost Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation and served as president for two years. He was very active in the chapter and their banquets and other activities. He also served on the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Advisory Committee of the Department of Natural Resources. Billy was named the 2010 Small Business Person of the Year by the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce.

He was a charter member of St. Mark United Methodist Church having served in many different capacities in the early years of the church and was a member of the Charles Poore Sunday School c
Class.

Surviving are his daughters and sons-in-law, Kathy and Chuck Camp, and Laura and Travis Dudley. He is also survived by four grandchildren whom he spent much time with, Sarah Kathryn and Emily Elizabeth Camp, and William Blalock and Hampton Scott Dudley.

He was preceded in death by a son, William Scott Hoole.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at St. Mark United Methodist Church with the Rev. Steve Brown officiating.

The family will receive friends at the church on Thursday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Mark United Methodist Church, 550 Highway 72 NW, Greenwood, SC 29649 (stmarkgreenwood.com) or to the Hampton Wildlife Fund, PO Box 2641, Columbia, SC 29202 (hamptonwildlifefund.org).

The family would like to thank the staff of Hospice & Palliative Care of the Piedmont for their loving care.