William E. Petty Jr.
March 6, 1964 - May 3, 2004
William "Jr." Petty, 40, of Danville, Ill., and Perrysville, Ind., passed this life May 3, 2004, in Richmond, Ky., while on a road trip to see his brother in South Carolina with his cousin, Mark Morgan.
Jr. was born March 6, 1964, in Danville, to the late William Petty and Judith Morgan-Petty. He graduated from North Vermillion High School in Cayuga, Ind., in 1982, and went on to attend Danville Area Community College in Danville. Jr. held various jobs throughout the last 20 years, most of the employment given to him from friends, Larry Ellis, Jim and Phil Brannin, Mike Mascari, Jim Savely, Bill Chrisman, Jeff Sirratt and Doug Maclyn, all of which were family friends, who were known to go above and beyond in his time of need.
Along with Joyce, Cindy, John Michael, Terri and Ronnie and Bobby, Jr's cousin, said that they had talked about family all the way to Richmond. Jr. bragged on his new great-nephew, three days old, James Wayne Morris, and how great a mother his niece, Lacey, would be. He was very close to his nieces, Leather Nicole and Brittany. He spent a lot of time at his sister, Tracy's home, helping her garden and work on her pond and being ornery with brother-in-law, "Ray Ray." He cherished the memories in his heart from when his family was together. Jr. loved NASCAR Sundays in the garage and he loved fast cars.
He was preceded in death by both parents, a brother, Richard Joseph Harvey; cousins, Tammy Trimble and Emily Amos; grandparents, Frank and Edna Carveth, Vearl Morgan, Frank Harvey and Jr. Rotramel; great-niece, Alaisha, great-nephew, Eric and Uncle Orville A. Martin.
He is survived by two sisters, Tracy (Ray) White of Danville and Penny (Ronny) Stone of Edwardsville, Ill.; two brothers, Staff Sgt. Benny (Susan) Harvey of Ladson, S.C. and Sean Harvey of Kissimmee, Fla.; nieces, Leather and Lacey Pryor, Tiffanie and Brittany (Neil) Shank, Tiffany (Dennis) Stone, Nicole (Hozzie) Hill, Natalie (Andre) and Richelle Jo Harvey; nephew, Craig Jo (Maria) Stone; great-niece, Alexis and great-nephews, Isiah, Colin and James.
Private services will be held from 3-5 p.m. Friday, May 7 at Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center. A celebration of his life will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 8, his sister's home, 514 Mikel Road.
If you thought he had nothing, you didn't have a clue. You see, material things didn't matter. He had the best of intentions. It's true he'd walk through Hell on Sunday just to help if you would ask. You couldn't guess all the hurt he held inside, inside the memories of his past. All he needed was his family; all he wanted was to go home. But when Momma went away, all he did was roam. Sometimes he didn't do things right and sometimes he'd disappear. But he never wandered very far. If you needed him, he was here. He made his rounds to see a friend and do what he could do and everything that he had nothing of he was willing to share with you. He had a heart that never quit. Even if you walked away, he'd say the only thing he could do was hope to be forgiven some day. He was taught to "let things go", so that's what he expected back. But he soon learned unconditional love and forgiveness is often what others lack.
Everyone is not the same; we've all had different pasts. But sometimes the pain inside goes away and sometimes it lasts.