William "Scotty" H. Broyles

William H Broyles, better known as "Scotty" by all that knew him, passed away on January 17, 2025 at age 96. He was born in Mesquite, TX on August 8, 1928 to Sidney and Ida Broyles.

He met Betty McWilliams in 1948 in Dallas. After returning from a stint in the Navy stationed in San Diego and aboard the aircraft carrier USS Boxer, they were married August 8, 1952, by her father who was a Southern Baptist preacher. Over the next two decades they moved between Idaho, Texas and California with Scotty working at various jobs related to the aerospace industry. During this time, he and Betty had three children and he also obtained a bachelor's degree from University of Houston. In 1970 they settled in Ridgecrest when he got a job at Naval Weapons Center as a computer programmer. They had celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in August 2022 before Betty passed away in October.

He loved being outdoors and loved to run, hike, fish and camp. He was an avid runner with the Over the Hill Track Club for decades. He completed dozens of marathons all over the U.S. as well as competing in several Lake Tahoe Relays around the lake. He summited Mt Whitney several times.

His love of music began when he received a guitar as a pre-teen and continued the rest of his life. Playing his custom made 1952 Jim Harvey 5 String Mandolin as well as one of his banjos at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend was one of his favorite "gigs" over the past 15 or so years. He was a member of Cross Current, a local band who played at various functions in Ridgecrest including lunch time entertainment at the Senior Center, High Desert Haven & Bella Sera.

He is survived by his three children John (Linda) Broyles, Judy Chieze and Jamie (Chuck) Ball as well as granddaughter Karina and great-grandsons, Brady & Cole.

A memorial will be held at 1:00pm on February 14, 2025 at the H K Holland Memorial Chapel at Holland & Lyons Mortuary.

He was proud to be a veteran of the Korean War. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Honor Flight Kern County at honorflightkerncounty.org in his name.