William Douglas Bevan

William "Bill" Douglas Bevan, was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario on May 14, 1940, the son of William John and Lorna Bevan and little brother to Patricia. At a young age, “Billy” was involved in the Anglican Church working on missionary projects and singing in choirs. Bill competed in many music festivals singing in choirs, quartets and solo performances and in 1954, at age 13 won the Kiwanis Music Festival of Niagara Falls for a solo performance. Along with music, his father started him young playing golf, hockey, baseball, and basketball. Later he became a competitive downhill skier. Many of his high school basketball games he was the team’s top scorer making 28 to 34 to even 49 points each game. He graduated from Grantham High School and was a member of Alpha Omega Fraternity.

As he grew, golf was his passion. From a young age he was competing in tournaments and winning them. The locals in St. Catherine’s started looking out for Bill Bevan and were cheering him on. He traveled the world golfing and skiing for pleasure and competitions. He was a champion - beginning as early as 1966 when he won the Niagara District Champion of Champions golf tournament.  He also played in numerous US Amateur Qualifiers and qualified once in 1977 at the Sea Island Golf Club and then went on to compete at the Aronimick Country Club in Pennsylvania. He also was the Club Champion at Sawgrass Country Club in 1978 and again in 1990 as well as a Deerwood Country Club in 1980. Bill loved the game of golf and the many friends he made and competed against.

Bill started his insurance career in Canada working for London Life and his family moved to Florida in 1973 to open his own agency, Wm. D. Bevan Inc. He was always hoping to help educate his clients on how to protect their financial future.

Because of Bill’s great love for sports, it made complete sense that he loved watching his children and grandchildren compete and grow in the sports or talents that they loved also. Whether it was swim team, gymnastics, cheerleading, soccer, golf, basketball, drawing, baseball, dance, skiing, golf, football, lacrosse or karate he did not care, he was just excited to cheer them on and offer "encouragement" whenever possible. Even in his last months, technology made it possible to watch his granddaughter play lacrosse from a far. He loved to hear what was going on in each of their lives and cheer them on.

His faith in Jesus Christ from childhood was renewed when he began attending the Men’s Prayer Breakfast every Monday at Englewood UMC when they lived in Venice, FL. Breakfast, friends, bible study and prayer gave him a renewed sense of purpose for life, faith, and service to others. He attended the Suncoast Emmaus Walk #87.  After moving back to Jacksonville in 2019, Bill and Debbie became members of River of Life United Methodist Church.

Bill was an avid reader, golf club maker and fan of breakfast food and especially at Metro Diner.

William Douglas Bevan passed away peacefully June 25, 2021.  Bill was preceded in death by his parents William and Lorna.   He is survived by his devoted wife of 36 years, Debbie Reavis Bevan, daughters Holly Plotts (Don), Lannie Morgan (Kirk), son Doug Bevan and their daughter Perri Martin (Gil) and 10 grandchildren, Jessy (Jake), Tyler, Rachel, Annie, Mackenzie, Jake, Olivia, Trey, Lukas and Rubie.  He is also survived by his sister Patricia Lawrenson and Nephew Jeff Kramer Bevan of Toronto, Ontario.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to River of Life UMC (rolumc.org) or the First Tee of North Florida ( https://www.firstteenorthflorida.org/ )

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 3, 2021, at 1:00 pm at River of Life United Methodist Church, 2600 Racetrack Road, St. Johns, Florida 32259. After the service, his friends and family will go to his favorite place – Metro Diner in Julington Creek– to share a meal and memories together.