William " Bill" Kenneth Goyne, 94, of Abilene passed away Wednesday, June 23, 2021 with loved ones by his side. Bill was born December 11, 1926 in Stamford Texas to Pearl Edington and Otho Lee Goyne. He grew up in Abilene, Texas. He was predeceased by both of his parents as well as his first wife and mother of his daughter, Dolores Spears Goyne. Bill started his entrepreneurial skills at the young age of 10 as a newspaper delivery boy riding his bicycle with his dog, Shorty, by his side. He worked in a service station at the age of 14. There were only 11 grades of school back then, and Bill quit school his sophomore year. He worked in the California shipyards during the summer of 1943, and joined the Marines in October of 1943. He went through Marine boot camp in Hawaii in 1944. He served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, most notably as a flamethrower for a tank crew on Iwo Jima. He landed at Nagasaki on October 01, 1945 shortly after the second atomic bomb was dropped. The mission was to establish control of the area, ensure compliance with surrender terms and demilitarize the Japanese war machine. Bill was discharged from the Marines on May 16, 1946. he obtained his GED and attended McMurry College in 1946 and 1947. Returning to civilian life, he worked as an Assistant Maintenance person for the Paramount Theater in Abilene Texas. He also worked as a truck driver, an officer with the Abilene Police Department, roughneck, oilfield equipment salesman and became the Production Superintendent for an independent oil company from 1958-1964. The company had wells producing in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. The company provided planes to check on production , so Bill obtained his private pilot license and flew to the various well sites. While living in Corpus Christi, Texas, with his wife and daughter, Bill met Harmon Dobson, the originator of Whataburger. They became close friends, so when Bill moved his family back to Abilene in 1964, he made plans to open the first Whataburger here. In 1965, the first Whataburger was opened on Mockingbird, and then the second location on Willis in 1967. After selling the Whataburgers, he later partnered with Frank Richardson for 23 years. Together, they developed the very popular Mr. G's Burgers and built the first Golden Corral in Abilene. Bill also obtained his real estate license in the 1990's while living in Horseshoe Bay and sold real estate for several years. Looking back, Bill noted that one of the many highlights of his life was having the opportunity to ride in the Goodyear Blimp with Sid Niblo. He recently reflected saying he had enjoyed a long, wonderful life. Left to cherish his memories are his wife of 38 years, Jessie LaJoy Goyne, and daughter, Debra Goyne Dugan and husband, William Dugan. A Memorial Service will be held at North's Funeral Home Chapel Saturday July 10, 2021 at 1pm. Online condolences may be made at www.northsfuneralhome.com