"Bill" Durand III, Mr. William Hamilton, 68, husband of Cynthia Lynn Durand, passed away on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 due to an illness at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center.  He was born, May 1, 1949, in Metairie, LA to the late William Hamilton Durand, Jr. and Patricia Maier.

Bill grew up in Metairie and married his high school sweetheart, Cynthia in 1969.  He joined the U.S. Army as a pilot and served his Country honorably.

His bravery during the Vietnam War in 1970-1971 earned him a Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Valor and Bronze Star Medals.  He flew UH-1 helicopters, ran countless MEDEVAC and search and rescue missions.  After the war, he continued flying with the Army and retired after 20-year career with honors as a CWO4.

He continued his aviation career logging over 40,000 hours incident and accident free  flight time.  His career included flying for the U.S. Government in CA, a commercial airline pilot with Eastern Air Lines out of GA, an executive pilot with the state of South Carolina and MBNA in DE, and was a flight instructor with CAE out of Dallas.

Mr. Durand is survived by his son, Paul and wife Stephanie, of Chesapeake VA, and daughter, Christine and her husband Brian Johnson, of Andover KS, seven grandchildren, Kayla, Kristin, Kyler, Kavin, Kambri, Ashton, Camille, and 2 great-grandchildren, Travis and Maycie, his brother, Patrick Maier and sister, Elizabeth Maier.

Memorial services will be 10:15 AM, September 8, 2017 at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, Dallas.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.deberryfuneraldirectors.com or at DeBerry Funeral Home, Denton, TX.