Bill retired from the United States Air Force on June 30, 1965 while stationed at Eglin Air Force Base (http://www.eglin.af.mil/) due to the Vietnam War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War) that was about to begin.  He retired as Chief Master Sergeant, Rank E-9 after 22 years, 8 months, and 9 days of military service while living in Plant City, Florida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_City%2C_Florida) where his adopted mother, Ella Kay was residing.  He was also a fisherman guide in the Florida Gulf Coast with his wooden cabin cruiser.

Their second child, Linda, was born on January 10, 1966 in Florida.  After a couple of years, he, his family and his ponies moved to Northwest Arkansas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Arkansas) shortly after the passing of his mother, Mildred Callahan.

Bill first moved his family to Sugar Creek, Arkansas in 1967, then Pea Ridge, Arkansas, where he entered the real estate profession working for Jim Walton Realty and raised rabbits on the farm.   He and Ingrid adopted their son, William Edward “Billy” Callahan, Jr. (born on January 17, 1969 in Rogers, Arkansas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers%2C_Arkansas) on January 21, 1969.  

In 1969, Bill moved the family to Lowell, Arkansas to a 40 acre farm where he bred and raised Charolais cattle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charolais_cattle), had the family horses & ponies, along with a huge garden -- all hobbies which he truly loved along with hunting wild game and tracking in the wilderness.

After working for Jim Walton Realty in Rogers, AR, he went out on his own in the year 1970 and established Callahan Realty which he brokered and it was located on Callahan Drive (named after his surname) (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=%5b800%2d999%5d%20W%20Callahan%20Dr&city=Rogers&state=AR&zipcode=72758&country=US&location=%2ftna7sIehBUvCJ1wlfsFzkRmkMF6h%2bn541TIWqrSIJY2gSW3aXW7Q%2bFV5qzzHatg7HzGF0FltLzP9f%2f%2byqcLx5YD9a0dw9o8hwXlNDgRCHd5zWt%2bN1%2f8eMg2DsKbjNmDpOw4oLGApWIRZPd7w%2fuaww%3d%3d&ambiguity=1), Rogers, Arkansas, where he moved his family.  Here he owned the family house, along with a mobile home (that was used by prior owners as a guest house) just down from the house and his office along Highway 71.  He had a huge garden just off the house.  He also bought another farm not far from the house where he continued to raise Charolais cattle and kept the family horses at. 

In 1972 he moved the real estate office and home to Highway 12, Rogers Arkansas.  The office was located in the front of the house, and the 2 story house was attached behind it.  The first floor of the house was attached to the office and the second floor was partially in the hill.  

In 1974, he became a Real Estate Broker in Oklahoma & Missouri.  He then established another office called Three Corners Realty which was located at the State Lines of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri along Hwy 43.

During the years of 1964 to 1974, he would take the family to the lake to go fishing and swimming and also on wonderful camping trips throughout the United States and Canada with a pop-up camper.  These are just a few of their destinations:  trips to a lodge in Lava Creek, Wyoming near Jackson Hole, Wyoming; flights to Germany to visit Ingrid’s family whom he adored and loved like his own parents; trips as far as Canada, Connecticut and as far south as Florida.  He also went on hunting trips and came back home with deer, moose from Canada, pheasants, sailfish & flat nose dolphins from the Gulf of Mexico.   

Bill was on the City Council in Rogers, Arkansas for a short time.

Even though he worked from 5am until the dark hours of the night, he would spend every minute of quality time with his family.  He taught his children how to appreciate life and all of its glory and beauty. 

In the year on or close to 1975, Bill divorced Ingrid Callahan and closed his real estate business shortly after the divorce.

Bill then married Joan Callahan in 1976 and moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas.  On December 22, 1977, their child, Sabrina, was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  In 1978, due to circumstances with Ingrid that effected his children (Petra, Linda and Billy), he was only able to gain custody of Petra and Linda and they moved to the Fort Smith, Arkansas area.  After moving to Fort Smith, Petra and Linda had to make their first visit to their mother, Ingrid.  Due to their love for their little brother, Petra and Linda planned the kidnapping of their little brother, Billy, from Ingrid during their visit.  The first morning after their arrival to Ingrid’s, they packed Billy’s suit case and just walked out the front door.  They called Ruth and Hans Weber to come pick them up, who took all three of them to the bus station bound for Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Boy was Bill surprised and a just a little bit upset with the kidnapping.  But most of all, he was so happy to have all of his children back together again.

Bill was the most loving, patient and understanding father any child would dream to have!!!

Bill moved the family to Brandon, Florida in 1978 for about 6 months were he went back into real estate and worked for Jim Walter Homes.  Then he moved the family to Amarillo, Texas for a few months where he worked for Bell Helicopter.  He then moved the family to Benbrook, Texas for a couple of months. 

In 1979, Bill moved the family again, this time to Grand Prairie, Texas where he went into the profession of Private Investigation and Security Protection for Woods and Associates located in Arlington, Texas.  In that same year, he and Joan eventually divorced. 

Bill then met Ruth Callahan and married in 1981.  They moved the family to another house in Grand Prairie where he planted the most beautiful rose garden ever seen.  He and Ruth also took a trip to Cozumel, Mexico. 

In 1982, his daughter, Petra graduated from South Grand Prairie High School.  It took him forever for her to want to get a car, so about a month or two before her graduation, he took her out and bought her a 1972 Dodge Aspen, faded yellow paint, white coupe, 2 door, with hail damage from bumper to bumper, but the important thing to him was the engine and entire car was clean.  What a relief that was for him!  Shortly after her graduation in 1982, he had the wonderful honor of walking her down the aisle of her wedding and gave her a wonderful reception. 

Then in 1984, Bill’s daughter, Linda graduated from South Grand Prairie High School.  Prior to her graduation, he bought her a 1964 Ford Galaxy, color teal green 4-door that was previously owned by a little old lady.  The car had very low mileage and was built like a tank.  Linda loved the car but the only problem with the car was the operator, for she would forget to look at the gas gage and would run out of gas so many times.  He finally sold her car and put her in his Ford Granada and what a relief that was for him.  He also gave her a trip to Lubeck, Germany for her graduation where the children’s grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins lived.

In 1985, Bill and Ruth Callahan divorced.  He then moved to Round Rock, Texas with his son, Billy.  He continued working in the profession of Private Investigation and Security Protection.  During his time there, he met Bep, who he married and moved from Oklahoma to Round Rock along with her daughter and son.   He and Bep were married a few months when they divorced.

In the same year of 1985, Bill had the honor of walking his daughter, Linda down the aisle, who married Clifford Peters.   

Bill then moved back to Grand Prairie and went back to work for Jim Bearden and Associates again.

In 1987, Bill met the soul mate that he had been waiting for, Mae Callahan and married her on August 22, 1987 and they lived in Arlington, Texas.  They had the marriage that everyone wanted, for they acted like two teenagers in love.  His family grew with an additional son, Wayne Dees; four daughters, Mae Haley, Anita Hampton, Linda Briggs and Debbie Lindsay and five grandchildren, Eric, Jodie, James, Stephanie and Kevin.

Also, on December 20, 1987, Bill became a proud grandfather of a beautiful granddaughter, Samantha Peters.  She was a joy in his life.

In May, 1988, Bill’s son, Billy Callahan graduated from South Grand Prairie High School.  He got Billy an old Chevy pickup which Billy truly enjoyed.    

In 1988, Bill went into semi retirement driving a school bus part time and even enjoyed if for a while until the teenagers got on his nerves.  In other words it was time for him to go into full retirement. 

In 1989, that is exactly what he did but the past was fixing to come back to him.  In process of filing for retirement, he was rejected because the Air Force stated to him that he was not qualified due to the fact that he was only 64 years old.  That is when he realized that little white lie he told to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) when he was 17 may have not been such a good thing to do after all!!  Needless to say, he and Mae went to Carlswell Air Force Base (now known as Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base https://www.nrs.navy.mil/nasfw/index.htm) in Fort Worth, Texas where he was humble as he walked into the Retirement Office of the Air Force.  He was directed to an officer to whom he explained the little white lie he told USAAF and in turn the officer said, “No problem Chief Master Sergeant, we’ll take care of this for you.”  Needless to say, he received full benefits almost immediately.  Apparently, being a Ret. Chief Master Sgt of nearly 23 yrs of service still has a lot of pull!! 

During their marriage, they bought a lake lot at Seven Points, TX at Cedar Creek Lake (http://www.lakedirectory.com/index.html).   One thing that needs to be mentioned at this point, Bill was somewhat of a perfectionist and his motto was “If you can’t do it right the first time, then don’t do it at all.”  Here is an example.  Bill wanted and did build a nice storage building on the lot.  During the roof tiling stage of the building, Bill actually took a Blue Chalk Box (which is used in construction to help place a straight line with blue chalk as a guide) and placed perfect lines for every row of roof tile.  While Mae and Petra sat in lawn chairs, supervising naturally (actually staying out of his way), spoke amongst themselves stating that they could have had the entire roof done in a couple of hours, but it surely would not have been straight and probably would have leaked.  He always tried to do his best in life.   

After the retirement issue was resolved, Bill and Mae got a travel trailer and traveled in North America and Canada.  But the most wonderful trip they took was his dream trip to Alaska in 1992.  During the long road from Canada to Alaska the roads were bumpy and rocky asphalt road.  By the end of their 3 month trip, they finally came home and talked about the wonderful time they had from nearly losing Tudor, their dog, a couple of times due to him chasing squirrels, to the fresh bear tracks in the remote wilderness of Canada.  The close bear encounter occurred when they were on their way to Alaska.  They could not find an RV park that had an opening until they saw a sign that indicated there was an RV park.  Bill turned the truck & trailer into the park, just to discover that it was abandoned and overgrown.  Mae did not fell comfortable because it was abandoned with no soul in sight in the deep wilderness.  Bill decided to stay because it was too late to go on and try to find another RV park.  After setting up the trailer, Bill & Mae decided to go for a walk to the river not far away.  While walking, Bill stopped and noticed something on the trail.  Mae asked what it was and he stated that there was fresh signs of a bear in the area.  Needless to say, Mae was ready to turn tail and run back to the trailer.  Bill, the animal tracker/hunter he was, said “Oh, come on, it will be okay”.  So with the trust that Mae had in him, she continued on with him but stayed right beside him and kept a keen eye out.  Now, that keen eye of Mae’s came in handy.  For if she had not been on the lookout as she had, she would not have seen the old tin building a few yards further along the trail.  She then made a point to tell him about the abandoned building and asked him “It looks like a bear could live in that building”.  Bill looked at the tin building and without a word, turned them around and high-tailed it back to the trailer.  After getting back to the camp site, Bill grilled as usual, while Mae was on constant look out for the elusive bear.  Later that night, Bill slept like a baby all night long with his shotgun within reach, while poor Mae was up all night due to every sound she heard from the forest in fear of the bear that was lurking outside of their travel trailer.  Needless to say, the next morning, Mae had everything packed and ready to go 30 minutes after waking up and was so relieved they left the park.   

On May 11, 1993, Bill became a proud grandfather again to his grandson, Kurt Peters.  With Kurt’s arrival, it made a perfect set of grandchildren for Bill that he truly loved.

In the fall of 1993, Bill took Mae as far north to Maine, where they had the best lobster they ever had!!!  During this trip he also took her to Florida and West Virginia, where Mae’s aunt resides.  They even went on a suspension bridge in Michigan with the motor home, where sometimes a semi truck has to go up the bridge with vehicles to provide them protection against the wind that could blow them off the bridge!!!  It is the scariest bridge in the World!!

In the summer of 1994, Bill and Mae took their last trip together to Branson, Missouri.  They were met by Petra, who came a few days after they arrived.  They went to shows and toured Branson.  He and Petra had a contest fishing for trout that was fed into the lake and stream.  Now, he had already caught some fish before she arrived and told her that she would have to catch up.  That’s when the games began!  He would get up early just to get a jump start on her and start fishing on the dock.  Well, needless to say, she rose to the challenge and by the end of her stay was ahead, but that didn’t last long.  He caught a few more after she left and ruled himself the winner.  Even though she and Mae knew that Petra had won the contest by a fish or two when she left, they both gave in because they loved him so much. 

Bill’s family and friends will always remember him as a loving, giving, compassionate and patient man.  He also loved to cook and barbeque, grocery shopping, raising flowers (his favorite was roses), reading the newspaper every day from the first page to the last (which was a must) and his love for the holidays where he was surrounded by his family.  He loved the old ballroom music and Country Music.  He did not have any dislikes that can be recalled, except for maybe Rock-N-Roll.