Remembering Pastor Bill Derrick
We grieve and we give thanks for the life and ministry of The Rev. William “Bill” Frank Derrick. He died on Sunday, August 18, after a decline of his health. After his retirement, Pastor Bill became a member at MLLC. For many years he served as a member of the worship committee and sang with our Praise Team. He also filled in for the pastors of MLLC when on vacation or out due to illness. His dedication to God and Church is remembered fondly at MLLC. In his final years he moved into an assisted living community in Giddings and joined Grace Lutheran Church in Giddings.
.
Visitation
Visitation will be on Friday, August 23rd at Brenham Memorial Chapel with family present from 5-7pm.
.
Funeral
The funeral will be at MLLC on Saturday, August 24, at 11 a.m. Burial will be at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Burton following the service. A memorial luncheon will be provided back at the church following the committal service. All are welcome at all events.
.
Memorial Gifts
Information about memorial contributions is on this page after the obituary. Please consider supporting this organization with monetary gifts in memory of our friend, Pastor Bill Derrick.
.
.
THE OBITUARY
William “Bill” Frank Derrick
May 28, 1940 – August 18, 2024
William ‘Bill’ Derrick, known by many as ‘Pastor Derrick,’ died Sunday, August 18, 2024, at Bec’s Blessing in Giddings, Texas, after a years-long battle with congestive heart failure. He was 84.
A lifelong and proud Texan, Bill was born not in Texas, but in Hobbs, New Mexico, to Erwin Aaron and Allyne Louise Prenzler Derrick. He was baptized in Texas at St. John United Church of Christ in Burton, on September 29, 1940. He lived in the Texas towns of Monahans, Andrews, Texas City, and Kingsville as a young child, and survived both polio and the Texas City explosion before moving to La Marque, Texas, where he spent most of his childhood.
Bill was La Marque High School student council president, and voted Most Likely to Succeed, Best Personality, Best All-Around, and Friendliest, and that was just his senior year. Unfortunately for his father, who was himself a great ball player, Bill proved to be rather incompetent with a bat and ball, but he did find his place in sports as the beloved manager for the La Marque High School football team. He was so good at it that had his own cheering squad at football games.
Bill graduated from La Marque High School in 1958 and moved on to Texas Lutheran College, where he began his journey to become a Lutheran pastor. After graduating from TLC in 1962, Bill drove his VW bug to Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He graduated in 1966 and booked it back to Texas having spent four winters being extremely cold. Bill was ordained at his home congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church, La Marque, on June 19, 1966, making his mother very, very proud. Pastor Derrick then went on to serve St. John Lutheran Church, Robstown, from 1966-72, Abiding Savior Lutheran Church, Houston from 1972-78 and finally to Salem Lutheran Church of Brenham from 1978 to his retirement in December 2005.
It was in Robstown that Bill met the love of his life, Rosemary Totter, who was a beauty and a transplant from New York, and who was also very smart, having conveniently placed herself in the front pew during Sunday services. They married on June 19, 1971, at St. John Lutheran Church, Robstown, TX., and in quick succession had two children, Julyne and Jason. Bill and Ro also welcomed into their Houston, Texas, home many foster sons and daughters, and one very special exchange student, Karsten Luethke of Germany, whom Dad referred to as his ‘first son,’ and who would remain in Bill’s life for more than 50 years, until his own life ended from cancer in 2023.
Bill loved singing since he was a child. He sang in the choirs at La Marque High School, Texas Lutheran College, and at Wartburg Seminary. Bill also sang in the Brenham Chorale for many years, and he was beloved for singing ‘O Holy Night’ every Christmas Eve at Salem Lutheran in Brenham. He was one of several area pastors who, in 1985, helped found Brenham’s Faith Mission, an ecumenical, non-profit that serves the homeless.
Long before his own kids got into scouts, Bill was a cubmaster and scoutmaster in Pack and Troop 636 in Houston and cubmaster of Pack 74 in Brenham. He also founded a scout troop after he retired and settled in the Burton area. When his son Jason was in elementary school, Bill was one of several parents who helped start the youth soccer program in Brenham. Later, the league needed a referee, so he started training, running three times a week around the Brenham High School track. As an avid Brenham Cub Sports Fan, he could be heard in the stands ringing the cowbell showing his support. He was a lifelong runner, having taken up the sport in his 30s after his dad had coronary bypass surgery. Fitness and healthy eating were a lifelong passion of Bill’s, who strived to live a long, healthy life.
Bill was named Washington County Man of the Year in 2006. He loved the Astros, his grandkids, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Democratic Party, and perhaps most of all, card games and dominoes, especially 88, Bridge, Gin Rummy, Pinochle, and the game ‘Oh Shit,’ which he taught to his fellow students at the Texas School for the Blind in Austin.
A couple years after he retired from Salem, Bill had a stroke that blinded him in his eye. He’d had a previous stroke 10 years before that blinded him in his other eye. He attended the School for the Blind, where he learned how to live with his blindness with humor and grace, and where he met many dear friends, including his roommate Ken Gwyn, who was the only 75-year-old blind person Bill knew who made it a hobby to jump out of airplanes.
Bill is preceded in death by his parents Erwin and Allyne; his wife Rosemary ‘Ro’; two infant sisters, Betty Anne and Baby Derrick; and a host of dear family members and friends, all of whom we imagine were gathered to excitedly greet him as he joined them in Heaven.
He is survived by his daughter Julyne and husband Nick, and grandson William ‘Parker’ Siewert; son Jason and granddaughter Kerrigan, and Jason’s partner Jennifer Wright and her daughters Jenna and Jada Dechant; nephew Kevin Rausch, and nieces Catherine Keenan and Tara Hermanowski; and many grandnieces and grandnephews.
Pallbearers are Rebecca and Ray Hooks, Kevin Rausch, Chris Jackson, James Naegeli, and Al Cardenas, his beloved caregiver of 13 years.
Honorary pallbearers are Kenneth Moerbe, Charles Parnell, Gary and Kerri Veit, Lynn and Glenda Pieper, Mark and Jane Crocker, Justine Morton, Employees of Bec’s Blessing and Carolyn Jones.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to one or more of the following organizations:
Martin Luther Lutheran Church of Carmine
P O Box 362
Carmine TX 78932-0362
979-278-3388
Online Giving
On the page where you select where to give and how much, note there is a line for “Memorial Gifts.” This is the 4th line down on the secure giving page. Included is a memo box. Note in that box, “William Derrick,” and the gift will be passed along to the right account.
Or
The Pastor William and Rosemary Derrick Endowed Scholarship at Lutheran Foundation of the Southwest Lutheran Foundation of the Southwest at http://www.lfsw.org
103 12th Street, Suite 201
Pflugerville, TX 78660
800-424-0447
Email: info@lfsw.org
Or
Grace Lutheran Church
1123 N Orange St
Giddings, TX
979-542-0100
Martin Luther Lutheran Church 
