Bill Haynes, 87, of McKinney, Texas passed away May 18, 2018. He was born in the home of his grandparents, Bob and Stella Scott located in Viney Grove, a community of Collin County, Texas on March 11, 1931.  Bill was taken by his parents to their home in the Kelly Community, east of Anna, Texas where he lived until he was six years old.  Shortly, before he was to start school, his family at the time, consisting of his parents, Vernon and Opal Haynes, brother Bobby and sister Jean Ann moved to the Haynes Farm in Chambersville, Texas. He entered school in 1938 and finished the tenth grade there in 1946. Bill then moved into the Scott Hotel in McKinney to live with his grandmother and attend McKinney’s Boyd High School where he graduated in 1948. After graduating from Boyd High School in 1948, Bill enrolled in North Texas State College.  After living in Denton during his freshman year, Bill moved back into the Scott Hotel and commuted to Denton, finishing his B.A. degree in 1952 and M.A. in history and English in 1954. Bill served in the United States Army from January of 1954 to January of 1956, spending a little over a year in 7689 Hq. and Hq. Company in Salzburg, Austria.  In March of 1956, he accepted an offer to teach in Pampa Senior High School, where he taught history, sociology and English. He retired as English/Language Arts Coordinator for Pampa High School in 1986 and returned to McKinney.

The Scott Hotel was located just off the downtown public square at 217 North Tennessee Street, across the street from Scotty Forsyth’s blacksmith shop. Bill’s great-grandparents, Frank and Martha Scott, had opened the Scott Hotel in the Old Burton House building in 1933; and in 1938, his grandparents Bob and Stella Scott had taken over as managers of the business. Since Bill and his family visited the Scotts almost every weekend, Bill grew up playing with this brother, sister, and cousins around the public square in downtown McKinney and along Herndon street, just south of the hotel.  His parents and grandparents took many pictures of children and grandchildren playing around the hotel. As a result, Bill had a large collection of photographs of McKinney in the background during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

McKinney’s then new library was located on the site of the Scott Hotel, where Bill had spent his teenage years; and he began spending some time each afternoon in the library, reading and viewing microfilm copies of the old McKinney newspapers. When he moved back to McKinney, he found that many of the scenes of his childhood had changed.  As his interest in the history of McKinney grew, he began keeping notes on the business and social history of the city. Soon he had material for articles which were published in McKinney Living and several historical articles that were published by Jack Suggs in his newspaper, The McKinney Herald and The McKinney News.  He was called upon to speak to groups interested in his stories about McKinney’s early days; and he became a member of organizations interested in preserving the history of McKinney and Collin County; the Collin County Historical Preservation Group. For several years he served with these groups, working to secure state historical markers for the Elm Saloon and the Chambersville Cemetery and serving as a member of the Collin County Historical Preservation Group.

He is survived by his siblings, Jean Ann Dungan of McKinney, Texas, Danny Jo Haynes and wife Ellen of Aurora, Colorado, and Bobby Haynes of Lake Lavon, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews; and other loving relatives.

Billy was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Vernon Scott.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, June 10, 2018 at Collin County Church of Christ, 2411 Virginia Parkway, McKinney, Texas 75071.

Memorials may be made to the Collin County Church of Christ in McKinney, Texas.