Hampton - Bill Leath died on May 12, 2015. He came to Hampton in 1960 and worked as a pharmacist at Southampton Pharmacy on Kecoughtan Road. In 1972, he purchased the Southampton and Medical Arts Pharmacies from his former employers, Charlie Wheeler and Tim Fisher. Medical Arts Pharmacy was next to the Dixie Hospital, off Victoria Blvd. He owned and operated the independent pharmacies until he retired in 1992. His stores were often the only place where peninsula residents could get prescriptions that required compounding or formulation and he provided a free prescription delivery service. A native of Texas, his customers often referred to him as "that tall, lean pharmacist, with the Texas drawl". He was born on May 20, 1930 in Dallas, Texas to William Lavern and Mary Ellen Goldsberry Leath. He was raised in Henderson, Texas and studied pre-med at Kilgore College beginning in 1948. He was drafted during the Korean War in 1950 and enlisted in the Air Force. He was assigned to the Medical Corps at LAFB and began work as a Lab Tech in the base hospital, where he met his wife of 57 years, George Etta Stacey. He was married in 1952. He completed active service in 1955 and then attended the University of Texas, where he graduated with his pharmacy degree in 1957. His dream of going on to medical school lost precedence to his need to support his son, William Jr., and his daughters, Catherine Stacey (Lee) and Mary Loyse (Berry). He moved to his hometown of Henderson, and took employment as a pharmacist, where he said he filled more prescriptions for cattle than people. His wife demanded they return to Hampton, and he finally gave in to her. Upon return, his son, Timothy Coates was born. He spent the rest of his life on the peninsula. His wife, Etta, died in 2009. He had eight grandchildren, Christopher, James and Audrey Lee, Ryan and Shane Berry, and Christine, Alex and Heather Leath. He is also survived by his only sister, Barbara Leath Cravey, of Henderson Texas. He was a member of St John's Episcopal Church in Hampton, where his funeral will be held at 2:00 pm on Monday, May 18th.