William Frederick Hadel

Baxter County lost a favored adopted son on April 2nd when W. F. "Bill" Hadel quietly exited this world at the Gassville Nursing Center. With no local relatives, he is survived by a host of friends. A resident of the Buzzard Roost area since 1957, Mr. Hadel was well known as a Bible teacher and gospel musician. With his late wife, Joyce, he founded (with W.R. "Richard" Osborn and others) the Bible Study Chapel at Colfax, and in the early '70's began a ministry of mailing Bibles to petitioners from around the globe, a successful mission which he directed until turning it over to Dennis Shrable (of Flippin) due to aging issues. Born December 31, 1924 in Hillsboro, Kansas to Henry and Edith, Hadel married Joyce Warner on January 18, 1948. Working always as a team, they spent a decade in ministry with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, as a traveling pastor, evangelists and singers. Hadel, known for his "Radio" quality voice and "never-met-a-stranger" personality worked during the 1960's as a carpenter and house painter, returning full time to his calling when Joyce left the Mar-Bax Shirt Co. to work at Baxter Travenol. A lover of all things living, he fed a menagerie of creatures and wild birds and tended his bountiful gardens. In their modest home the Hadels hosted any and all, who found them models of true hospitality. With no children of their own, they "adopted" innumerable youngsters who will ever cherish the happy memories of "Chapel Parties" where clean homemade fun, good food and music left an imprint of holiness. After Joyce's death in 2005, he sold his home, living comfortably for the past 1 1/2 years at Riverlodge Assisted Living, then at Gassville, where the staff attended to his needs with love and respect.

A memorial service will be held at Kirby & Family Funeral Home Chapel, Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 2:00 P.M. A potluck dinner will follow at the American Legion Hall (Market St., due West of Hobby Lobby). Contact Frank at 425-4998 or 424-6033 or Steve at 405-2846.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Ozarks Hospice House, the North Central Arkansas Humane Society or the Bible Work c/o Dennis Shrable, 113 MC 7030, Flippin, AR 72634.

Arrangements are by Kirby and Family Funeral and Cremation Services.