William Young, Jr.

Private funeral services were held for William J. Young, Jr. of Davenport, Iowa on Saturday, April 4, 2020 at Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral home.  He was buried at Pine Hill Cemetery where he had served as a member of the Board of Directors for a decade.   His service can be viewed by going to his obituary at www.hmdfuneralhome.com  In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) or the America Diabetes Association.

William was born to William Young Sr. and Roberta (McCoy) Young in Meridian, Mississippi on October 7, 1936.  He received his education at St. Joseph Catholic School, the Meridian Public schools, and Mississippi Industrial College, in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

He was united in marriage to Emma Jean Johnson on October 22, 1958. To this union five children were born.

William was a great athlete lettering in football and track.  However, William had an enduring talent and passion for baseball and was awarded a contract with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League but chose to put family first and not accept the contract.  He played baseball and softball locally well into his fifties and later coached little league and pony league baseball at Emeis Park in Davenport.

William was initially employed by Fidler and Chambers but retired from Alcoa in 2001 after 36 years.

William was a member of Progressive Baptist Church where he was a member of the male chorus and was honored to serve as a deacon until his health failed.

While William had many hobbies including golf and bowling, he was a great lover of music ( a passion he managed to instill in his children and grandchildren) and had a amassed an enormous collection of reel to reel, eight tracks, cassettes, vinyl albums, and CD’s.  His favorite singer was Sam Cooke and he enjoyed all genres of music but especially Blues, 1950’s Country and Western, Soul/R&B, Jazz, and Gospel.

He was known as the “Dancing Deacon” and could put his own children to shame on the dance floor (and he did so, often). He was a great son, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother, neighbor, and friend and he will be immensely missed.

William was proceeded in death by his parents, brother, Donald Jackson, sister Lettie Mae Johnson, infant son Joseph, daughter Twyla Griffin, and grandson Jeffrey Sheppard.

Those left to cherish his memory are his loving wife of 61 years, Emma Young, daughters Natalie Young, Sandra Lynn Young- Sheppard (Nolan) and Roberta Jacqueline Young, all of Davenport.  Five grandchildren, William “Greg” Young (Anne) Prairie Village, Kansas, Christopher Young, Suless Young, Davenport, Patrice Young, Phoenix Arizona, and Warren “Doug” Griffin, Glendale, California. Five great grandchildren, Tavia Young, Janiah Johnson, Davenport, Cameron Young, Phoenix, Arizona, Nathan Young, Prairie Village, Kansas, Dominic Patrick, Davenport and one great-great grandchild, Isaiah Young, Davenport. Brothers, Rev. John Young (Faye) Davenport, Timothy Jackson, San Francisco, California, a sister Carolyn Young, San Francisco, California.  A host of nieces, nephews, cousins, sister and brother- in- laws, and friends.

Finally, the Young family would like to extend our sincere thanks to Dr’s Afsana Abdullah, Shobha Chitneni, Gitanjali Singh, Robert Knudson and the staff of Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House and all who were a part of William’s care for the last 12 years.