Mr. William (Bill) Bedford Ponder's Obituary
Funeral Services for William (Bill) Bedford Ponder will be held at Woods Presbyterian Church Hwy 49 N on Monday, August 12, 2024 at 1:00pm, with internment immediately following at Sardis Methodist Church Hwy 50. Visitation will be held on Sunday, August 11, 2024, from 4:00pm-6:00pm at Langley Funeral Home.
Bill Ponder passed away on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at Piedmont Midtown Hospital in Columbus, Ga.
William Bedford Ponder was born March 3, 1940 to parents Dwight Christy Ponder and Kathryn Cosby Ponder. He is survived by many friends (and his kitties, Freckles and Socrates) who still love him dearly.
Bill graduated from Dadeville High School in 1958, where he was voted by his senior class as "Most Dependable". He then attended Auburn Polytechnic Institute (which later became Auburn University) and graduated with a master's degree in Pharmacy. He practiced as a pharmacist in Georgia for several years. His family asked him to make plans to join the family business, which was Ponder's Nursery. So, he went back to Auburn University and got another master's degree in Horticulture. He worked with the family business until it closed in 1984. At that point, Bill decided to resume his career as a pharmacist. He chose to continue living at "home" in Dadeville, and commuted to Montgomery until he retired.
During the years that Bill lived and worked in Dadeville, he was very involved in all aspects of his community, He was a long-time member of the Tallapoosa County Farmer's Federation, where he served as president for a term. He was a founding member of the Dadeville Beautification Board. He was a board member of the Tallapoosa County Historical Society and was very instrumental in the growth of this organization, He was a board member of the community non-profit group called Everything's Art! He was a member of the Alabama Historic Preservation Association. He attended Woods Presbyterian Church, which was founded in 1898 by his grandmother, Mary Sims Turner. Bill was also a member of Sardis Methodist Church, where his mother was a member.
Because of his lifetime involvement and generosity in his community, Bill has been recognized a number of times, including the Gwendolyn C. Turner lifetime achievement award from the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation and the Laeman Butcher Award from the Dadeville Area Chamber of Commerce. The founders of Dadeville's Pennington Park dedicated the Ponder Pavilion to Bill in gratitude of his contributions to their endeavors.
While Bill Ponder was actively involved in the area's organizations, he was also quietly finding ways to be of assistance in any way that he could to help those in need, whether it was to pay to fix a flat tire for a complete stranger, or to provide school supplies and clothing for children, or to provide transportation for someone in need.
Bill Ponder is still loved by many people. His beautiful, gentle spirit will forever be missed. Those who knew him would agree that he achieved his personal mission, which he casually mentioned when interviewed by the Dadeville Record on June 7, 2012: "I always wanted to leave the world a little bit better place than when I got here through these efforts."
Bill requested no flowers for his visitation and service and that donations may be made in his memory to the Dadeville Beautification Board C/O the City of Dadeville 265 North Broadnax St. Dadeville, AL 36853.
Memories and condolences may be made at www.langleyfuneralhome.com.
Langley Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of William Bedford Ponder.
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