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Willis "Bill" Shockley, age 90, of Lemmon, South Dakota,  passed away on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at West River Health Services in Hettinger, North Dakota.

Visitation will be held at the Prince of Peace Chapel of the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon, South Dakota on Friday, November 7, 2025, from 2-6 pm with Family Services held immediately after at 6pm. Memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 10:30am at Turning Point Christian Center, Lemmon, South Dakota.

Willis J. (Bill) Shockley was born on September 19, 1935, to James and Wyona Shockley in a log cabin at Veit Place near Thunder Butte in Ziebach County, South Dakota.  He was the sixth child born to James and Wyona.  Bill's father passed away due to blood poisoning when Bill was less than a year old.

Bill attended Lemmon Schools for all 12 years and graduated from LHS in May of 1953. After high school, Bill enlisted in the United States Air Force where he went through basic training stationed at Randolf Air Force base in San Antonio TX, he then attended Radar Tech School at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS and finally served in Okinawa Japan until his discharge in October of 1957.

On December 27th of 1957, Bill married Yvonne Penfield at the Lemmon Church of God.  After their wedding, Bill and Yvonne made their home in Lemmon while he worked at the Red Owl store for a short time before he and Yvonne embarked on a journey in 1959 which took them to the states of California and Arizona and eventually back to South Dakota.  While in California, Bill attended college and worked for North American Aviation.  In Arizona, he worked for a time as a fireman on the railroad.  The couple would welcome their first child, Wade into the world in 1959.  In the fall of 1959, their little family moved back to Lemmon until the spring of 1961.  At this time, they moved to Aberdeen South Dakota where Bill attended Northern State College.  He would eventually graduate from Northern with a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration and Education in 1969.  In 1965, Bill and Yvonne had their second child, Nikki, and in 1967, their third child TJ was born.

Having earned his degree in education, Bill accepted a job to become a High School Principal at Rosali, Nebraska from 1970-1971.

In June of 1971, Bill and Yvonne would find themselves moving back to Lemmon to work with Yvonne's father on the family farm/ranch operation.  Despite the challenges of farming/ranching, (he was hailed out the first seven years), Bill loved this life and would continue with conviction for nearly 30 years before he would retire in February of 1997.

In addition to farming, he was also involved in the auction business with his father-in-law and brother-in-law and was an outstanding auctioneer.  He worked at and managed the truck stop in Lemmon for many years forming lasting friendships with truckers and customers alike.  He retired from the convenience store in January of 2001.  Bill was a substitute teacher on occasion, and for nearly 20 years enjoyed telling stories and history of the park and town of Lemmon to tourists at the Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon.

Even though farm life doesn't allow much time for hobbies, Bill enjoyed taking time to hunt and fish on occasion and these outings often included family members   tagging along. He learned the art of refinishing furniture and took joy in a beautiful
finished piece.

Bill and Yvonne were snowbirds for many years as they wintered in Arizona City, AZ.  While there, they met many amazing friends and took immense pleasure in reporting warm temperatures to family members stuck enduring the cold winter months up north.

Bill had a wonderful sense of humor, loved to laugh, and thoroughly enjoyed giving people a hard time whenever the opportunity presented itself which was quite often.  He loved his family immensely and especially adored his grandchildren and great�grandchildren.

Bill will be dearly missed by all of those who knew and loved him, but we all take comfort knowing that he knew Jesus and is now in the presence of the Father waiting for us to join him someday in eternity.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents James and Wyona Shockley, brother James, sister Aldene, sister Dora Lee, and brother Joe.

Bill is survived by his wife of nearly 68 years Yvonne, one sister Jenny Lee Hess, son Wade, daughter Nikki (Gary), son TJ (Lisa), along with  6 grandchildren: Scott (Mikayla), Jaden (Sydnie), Jacob (Lyndse), Cole, Camryn (Zack), and Bret; 6 great grandchildren: Linkin, Julian, Mia, Cayden, Noah, Kylen and baby #7 on the way, and numerous nieces and nephews.