William Joseph Dorsey, Sr., age 85, of Atchison, KS, went home to be with his Lord Jesus Christ on September 5, 2024.

Bill- life will be celebrated on Friday, September 13, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. at the Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home. A visitation with the family will be for one hour prior to the service. He will be laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery. Funeral Care has been entrusted to the Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home.

Bill was born on June 13, 1939, in Atchison, KS, the son of John Andrew Dorsey, Sr. and Isabelle Lorene (Marshall) Dorsey. He attended Atchison High School and graduated from Dekalb High School in 1958.

He proudly served his country in the United States Navy from 1959 until 1963 as a boilerman on the USS Bradford and USS Coontz. He was recalled into active duty on his wedding day, to the Vietnam War and served in South Carolina on the USS Bordelon before being honorably discharged in June of 1965. During his tenure, he travelled to Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, The Philippines and the Vietnam River.

He did in fact go through with the wedding, he married Betty A. Truman, on September 19, 1964, and his passing is just two weeks short of their 60th Wedding Anniversary. Bill and Betty have two sons, Scott Dorsey and Bill Dorsey, Jr. Additional survivors include his siblings, Dotty Dorsey Burnett, John Andrew Dorsey, II, and Gene Hazlett; and countless nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; and siblings, Charles Hazlett, James Dorsey, Mary Dorsey Sowers, and Ronald Dorsey.

Bill and Betty took their family on numerous vacations to American National Parks, including Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Yosemite, Sequoia National Forest, Mount Rushmore, Grand Canyon, Estes Park, Pikes Peak, The Badlands, Blue Ridge Mountains and Waterton National Park in Canada. He thoroughly enjoyed hiking in the mountains with his family and seeing and photographing the countless animals and scenery. Bill and Betty also had the privilege of traveling to Chicago numerous times with their son, Scott, during his work trips. Bill took over as the scoutmaster for troop 93 when his sons were participating, and took the scouts to Camp Geiger and was an honorary warrior of the Tribe of Mic-O-Say in St. Joseph, MO.

Bill worked for Rockwell Foundry in Atchison, and Missouri Pacific Railroad in Falls City, NE, before joining Midwest Grain Products, for twenty-seven years until his retirement in 1998. He enjoyed people, so he spent a few years as a greeter at Wal-Mart in retirement.

He had incredible strength and character and would never give up on anything his whole life. Although he may have grown up very poor, that led to him being humble of heart and gentle of spirit. He enjoyed working outside in his gardens and trees, reading his bible, working on crossword puzzles, watching the sunrise and his old western movies, especially the Virginian. He sang in the choir at the First Christian church for many years and got a kick out of playing practical jokes on people, especially on April Fool- Day.