William Raybon Junkin, age 88, of Gordo, AL died March 10, 2025 at his residence.  Funeral services will be 3:00 pm Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church with Rev. Mike Hall officiating.  Burial will be in the church cemetery with Skelton Funeral Home of Reform directing.  Visitation will be one hour prior and immediately following the service at the church.
He was preceded in death by infant daughter, Carrie Janine Junkin; his parents; sister, Brenda Grammer and brothers, Mike Junkin and Larry Brelyn Junkin.
Survivors include his wife, of 69 years, Virginia Pate Junkin of Gordo;  three daughters, Jenny Junkin of Tuscaloosa; Julie Bedsole (Charlie) of Northport and Johnna Walker (Simon) of Tuscaloosa; son, Jay Junkin (Sandy) of Birmingham; eight grandchildren, Blake Bedsole, Brett Bedsole, Jordan Walker, Jennifer Walker, Ryan Junkin, Eric Junkin, Lawson Brown and Will Junkin and nine great-grandchildren, Chloe Bedsole, Kaden Junkin, Ava Junkin, Ella Junkin, Zoey Junkin, Zia Junkin, Zayda Junkin, Zimri Junkin and Zane Junkin.
Raybon was born February 20, 1937 in the Zion Community of Gordo, Alabama to the late Vernie Junkin and Nora Mae Moss Junkin.  He was a member of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, former service manager for Bear Bryant VW and a retired employee of BF Goodrich.
Raybon never met a stranger, and he was blessed with the gift of story- telling.  He might tell you about the conversation he had with Coach Paul Bear Bryant, who personally hired him to be the Service Director at his VW dealership.  Or maybe he would tell you about his beloved horse he had as a boy, or the job he had of getting to the school in Zion first to build the fire, so it was warm when the others arrived.  He might share one of his funny tales about driving a school bus or trace the family tree back to tell you how he is related to Jim Bowie. He could've explained to you how he read a book and then built a swimming pool or diagnose what was wrong with your car by listening to you tell him the noises it was making.  He might tell you stories of going to Washington for the National Spelling Bee and walking through the White House with a tape recorder going in his camera bag, so he could secretly record the conversation between the First Lady, Mrs. Patricia Nixon, and Julie.  He could share tales of the many trips taken as a family to Dauphin Island, Ft. Walton, and Panama City Beach, where he found "treasures" in the sand with his metal detectors and made treasured memories holding tiny hands of grandkids and great grandkids as they found their shells and treasures while walking the beach early in the morning with Papaw.
He was an excellent cook, and he might try to give you a gravy lesson every Sunday to serve with his famous fried chicken or teach you how to make his delicious giblet gravy on Thanksgiving or tell you the trick to making the perfect caramel frosting for Momma's black walnut pound cake.  Maybe you could get him to tell you how to make his barbecue ribs-his were the best!  And how he and Momma worked as a team to bake hundreds of pound cakes over the years, to share with family and friends!
But if you were really lucky, he just might tell you his best story of all;   the story of how one day, when he was taking someone home from school, with her friend Virginia in the backseat, it only took one look in the rear view mirror at those beautiful green eyes and long blonde curls blowing in the wind, and she stole his heart for the rest of his life.
Raybon loved to sing.  He would wake us up on the 4th of July singing " I'm so happy I could holler cause I got a silver dollar, gonna spend it on the 4th of July, "and then break into this "fa so la" part that had us all laughing.  And let's not forget the yodeling!  But his most fun singing was when he got to sing his favorite Willy and Waylon songs, with a Marty Robbins tune here and there, to his grandkids and great grandkids, boys and girls alike.  As toddlers we could hear them singing "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" and "Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys", because they knew the words from all the many times Papaw RayRay had sung those songs to them.  Who needed a lullaby?
He loved his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  He loved people.  He loved to talk.  And he loved The Lord.  We know he is in Heaven singing Willy and Waylon and regaling new listeners with a long lifetime of interesting stories.  And we know he's looking down and watching over the love of his life, Genn.
Pallbearers will be Blake Bedsole, Brett Bedsole, Ryan Junkin, Eric Junkin, Will Junkin, Lawson Brown, Jeff Parker and Jonathan Pate.