William Waterson “Bill” Easley ‘67 OBITUARY William Easley had twin passions for music and studio art that he forged into a prolific career. His works run a geographic and cultural gamut - from the bust of David Crockett in the Hall of State in Dallas' Fair Park to the Mercedes-Benz logo on two plaques at the automaker's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. His sculptures include a life-size re-creation of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in a Sherman park named for the civil rights leader, and a Buddy Holly tribute in the "Texas Music Alley" display in Dallas' West End. Mr. Easley died Wednesday - his 67th birthday - of complications of congestive heart failure at his studiohome in Fannin County. A celebration of his life will be planned for next spring. He donated his remains to the Willed Body Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Mr. Easley liked the permanence of sculpture, for both the perspective of his effort and the lives of those he captured in art. "He liked that it was a legacy - that it is something that will remain," said his daughter, Estée Easley of Denton. "I remember at some of his unveilings that he definitely [said], 'This will still be here when we are all gone.'" Mr. Easley was born in San Antonio, where he grew up three blocks from the Alamo. He started sculpting as a boy, making toys out of wood and clay, "creating my own little world with my hands," he recalled in 1995. Mr. Easley formed and performed in a series of bands beginning in high school and continuing as he worked his way through college. In 1967, he received a bachelor's degree in studio arts from Sam Houston State University. He then worked as a musician, stage director and producer and as a promoter, both independently and for Concerts West in Dallas. "He brought Rocky Horror Show to Dallas as a stage production," his daughter said. In the mid-1980s, Mr. Easley started making public art with a sculpture of José Toribio Losoya, a Mexican soldier who helped Texans defend the Alamo. Mr. Easley lived in Highland Park until about 25 years ago, when he moved to acreage between the towns of Leonard and Randolph in Fannin County. In 1992, Mr. Easley began unveiling a series of bronze memorials he was commissioned to do for the "Texas Music Alley" in Dallas' West End. His first three subjects were Bob Wills, Buddy Holly and Blind Lemon Jefferson. The artists' music inspired his sculptures, he said before the 1992 unveiling. "When I start sculpting a piece, I hear music," he said. Likewise, Mr. Easley created soundtracks - guitar, banjo or keyboard - to accompany many of the oil and acrylic paintings he created, his daughter said. Mr. Easley's work evolved from bronze to sandblasted granite and sandblasted glass pieces. "He was sandblasting black granite images so that smaller communities could have original art at a price they could afford, because bronze was just too expensive," said his wife, Reah Easley. About 10 years ago, Mr. Easley turned his attention to writing. He and his wife co-wrote plays, some of which they performed for children at elementary schools and libraries across the state. In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Easley is survived by a sister, Virginia Sue Calhoun of Tyler; and one grandchild.