William R. Eubanks

William Ruie (Bill) Eubanks, 82, of Fletcher, NC, went home to Heaven on Monday, February 16, 2026. He was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Alice Eubanks and his father Ruie Arizona Eubanks as well as his sister, Mary Anne Long. He is survived by his brother, Joseph Milton Eubanks(Betsy) and 4 adult nieces. He was a loved and cherished husband to his surviving wife, Elizabeth Eubanks, for 55 years. He was a devoted father to surviving daughters, Amanda Wallace (Matt) and Katherine Demetris (Robert). He loved his 8 adult grandchildren and 13 great grand children. He was excited about having a 14th great grandchild due in September. Bill grew up on Northwood Circle in Durham, NC. He graduated from Durham High School in 1962 and went on to attend East Carolina State University. Bill enlisted in the Navy on December 20, 1963 and soon became a medical corpsman with the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam. Bill loved his country and was proud to serve. Upon returning home from Vietnam, Bill was invited to apply for the Wachovia Loan Officer program in Durham, NC. He landed himself a position as branch manager in several locations over the next few years. In 1974 he accepted the position of Vice President of Duke Cancer Center in Durham, NC. After successfully contributing to the growth of the Duke Cancer Center, Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas took notice and asked that he come on board to help them grow their center. In 1979 Bill relocated his family to Rockwall, Texas so he could begin this new role as Vice President of the Baylor Hospital Cancer Center. After many years in the corporate world Bill had a yearning to combine his love for hunting and fishing with his entrepreneurial desire to open his own hunting & fly fishing outfitters. He thoughtfully researched where best to make this happen. Asheville, NC won him and his family over. They relocated to Asheville in 1985 for Bill to open his dream store on Montford Ave. called Hunter Banks. Bill creatively built this successful business, managed the store, guided fly fishing trips locally and around the world. He worked with customers 6 days a week until 2000 when he sold it. That same year he joined his son in law and daughter at Rhino Linings of WNC in order to help them build their family business. He retired in 2016. Bill, known as Grandpa and Papa, to his grandchildren and great grandchildren, was a man of good character. He loved our country. He took punctuality seriously, and was loyal and reliable. He enjoyed reading books, studying history (he nailed it on every Jeopardy history and geography question!) and loved a glass of red wine. In his later years he enjoyed feeding the birds, turkey and squirrels in his back yard. And he even had a special friendship with a chipmunk. But what he enjoyed most in his last years was spending his time with the love of his life, his wife, Elizabeth. You could find him relaxing and watching tv next to her on their recliner sofa every day and night. He was devoted to his wife and wanted nothing more than to spend his days taking care of her. His favorite moto in life was “Adapt, improvise and overcome.” Bill, this is exactly what we will all try to do. We love you and we miss you dearly. A memorial service will be held at 12:00 PM on Friday, February 27, 2026 in the chapel of the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, 962 Old US Hwy 70, Black Mountain, NC 28711. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made to ABCCM for the repairs of the Veterans Restoration Quarters after Hurricane Helene by clicking this link, https://www.abccm.org/donations/helene/ or the the Asheville Human Society clicking this link, https://rb.gy/dbwao5

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William R. Eubanks

October 29, 1943 - February 16, 2026