William “Bill” Culpepper, 83, of Lampasas died Jan. 2, 2023, at St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center after a battle with cancer.
Bill was the son of Xermo and Alice (Adcock) Culpepper. He grew up in Meridian, Mississippi, graduated from the University of Mississippi and received a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas.
He worked as an engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston for 30 years.
Early in his career, Bill was employed by Lockheed Aerospace, a NASA contractor. Later, he became a civil servant at NASA Johnson Space Center.
Bill worked on many projects related to America’s space programs, including the first human outpost design and space station redesign.
One of his more critical projects was organizing and leading a team of engineers in building spacecraft electronics that could withstand single-event effects caused by cosmic rays found in space, where a single nuclear particle can destroy a flight computer instantaneously. Bill’s team traveled to cyclotrons all over the U.S., exposing new spacecraft computing systems to particles like the ones in space. Due to Bill’s leadership, Johnson Space Center has procedures to test all high-priority spacecraft electronics and certify them routinely, thus saving the lives of astronauts in space.
Members of his team and others on this project remember him as a friendly, experienced, straightforward guy. Bill also was known for supporting young, inexperienced engineers as they made their place in a new environment at NASA.
Bill appreciated music through various genres, including ragtime, show tunes and ballads. He loved playing his Gibson guitar, upright bass, clarinet, organ, mandolin and grand piano. His passion for history, genealogy and literature led him to complete numerous courses offered by “The Great Courses,” which resulted in him becoming an official course reviewer.
After retirement from NASA, Bill moved to 70 acres overlooking Lampasas. He built an energy-efficient house and set about improving the wildlife habitat on his place. He removed a dense canopy of Ashe Juniper (cedar), and planted a mix of native grasses and flowers. A variety of native trees, a wildlife water guzzler and numerous nesting boxes for birds were installed by Bill. His land serves as an example of native prairie restoration.
Bill is survived by daughter Keliegh Culpepper, her three children of Tuscon, Arizona, and a sister, Betty Kinsey of Saltillo, Mississippi.
He was preceded in death by his daughter Kimberly Culpepper, and by one grandchild.
No service is planned. Heritage Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
