1932
William
2017
William Givens
October 18, 1932 — August 10, 2017
William Vernon Givens
William Givens affectionately known as “Vernon” by his family and “Mr. Givens” by everyone else, was born on October 18, 1932 to the union of Love and Beulah Givens, in Dyre, Tennessee. He was the youngest of five children but had a tendency to try and take on the role of the oldest in the lives of his siblings. Love and Beulah moved the family to Kansas City while Mr. Givens was just a young child, so Kansas City was the place that he called “home.”
He met, fell in love and married Jeffie Naomi Barr, in 1962 and remained married to her until she left him to be with The Lord. William and Jeffie’s union included three children whom he cherished for the rest of his life, Stanley Ray, Vernice Michele and William Vernon Jr. (Bill).
Mr. Givens took pride in being a strong family provider, while embracing his personal independence with every life opportunity.
Courageous, creative, driven, determined, successful, uncompromising, wise. These words sum up Mr. Givens. He truly believed that all things are possible when you make a specific decision, commit to achieving it, never giving up and never stopping. He was a leader who cared about the quality of his work and life, performing with a commitment to excellence, fairness and integrity.
He loved working and leading, talking about business, money and planning for the future, which we believe were his real hobbies in life. He was a life and business strategist, who had an emphasis on maximizing time. Once recognized as a real estate tycoon, he took personal pride doing what he simply “wanted” to do. Mr. Givens retired from the Kansas City Missouri Public School District, after more than 45 years of continuous service, receiving the highly coveted Distinguished Service Award.
The scripture that most represents the life of Mr. Givens is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Phillipians 4:13. Although he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior later in life, he trusted God for his daily living every day after, thankfully crediting God for protecting and blessing him, beyond measure, throughout his ENTIRE life.
In the recent years, he spent most of his time hanging out with the girls in his life…his daughter, Vernice and his granddaughters, Raegen and Morghen. Winning a challenging game of checkers or Tic-Tac-Toe was the only true “game time” that he would allow himself to play.
William was preceded in death by his father (Love, Sr.), his mother (Beulah), his sisters (Elizabeth Roebuck and Opal Avery), his brother (Edward Givens) and his son (Stanley Ray Harrison). He leaves to cherish his legacy and life, his brother, Love, Jr., his daughter Vernice Givens (Charles) Monroe, his son William Givens Jr., and his grandchildren…Geoffrey Younger, Michael Washington, Jeffery Washington, Raegen Monroe, Morghen Monroe, along with a host of great grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews.
William Givens affectionately known as “Vernon” by his family and “Mr. Givens” by everyone else, was born on October 18, 1932 to the union of Love and Beulah Givens, in Dyre, Tennessee. He was the youngest of five children but had a tendency to try and take on the role of the oldest in the lives of his siblings. Love and Beulah moved the family to Kansas City while Mr. Givens was just a young child, so Kansas City was the place that he called “home.”
He met, fell in love and married Jeffie Naomi Barr, in 1962 and remained married to her until she left him to be with The Lord. William and Jeffie’s union included three children whom he cherished for the rest of his life, Stanley Ray, Vernice Michele and William Vernon Jr. (Bill).
Mr. Givens took pride in being a strong family provider, while embracing his personal independence with every life opportunity.
Courageous, creative, driven, determined, successful, uncompromising, wise. These words sum up Mr. Givens. He truly believed that all things are possible when you make a specific decision, commit to achieving it, never giving up and never stopping. He was a leader who cared about the quality of his work and life, performing with a commitment to excellence, fairness and integrity.
He loved working and leading, talking about business, money and planning for the future, which we believe were his real hobbies in life. He was a life and business strategist, who had an emphasis on maximizing time. Once recognized as a real estate tycoon, he took personal pride doing what he simply “wanted” to do. Mr. Givens retired from the Kansas City Missouri Public School District, after more than 45 years of continuous service, receiving the highly coveted Distinguished Service Award.
The scripture that most represents the life of Mr. Givens is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Phillipians 4:13. Although he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior later in life, he trusted God for his daily living every day after, thankfully crediting God for protecting and blessing him, beyond measure, throughout his ENTIRE life.
In the recent years, he spent most of his time hanging out with the girls in his life…his daughter, Vernice and his granddaughters, Raegen and Morghen. Winning a challenging game of checkers or Tic-Tac-Toe was the only true “game time” that he would allow himself to play.
William was preceded in death by his father (Love, Sr.), his mother (Beulah), his sisters (Elizabeth Roebuck and Opal Avery), his brother (Edward Givens) and his son (Stanley Ray Harrison). He leaves to cherish his legacy and life, his brother, Love, Jr., his daughter Vernice Givens (Charles) Monroe, his son William Givens Jr., and his grandchildren…Geoffrey Younger, Michael Washington, Jeffery Washington, Raegen Monroe, Morghen Monroe, along with a host of great grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews.
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