Bill Frost

Willard D. Frost passed away after an extended illness on Friday, October 4th 2024, at the age of 94 in Hampton, Virginia.

Known to his friends and associates as "Bill," he was born to parents William A. Frost and Marion Elizabeth Rokes Frost in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1930 and at the age of 8, moved with his family to a farm in New Hampshire during the early years of the great depression. He was preceded in death by his brother Albert (1979) and his sisters Miriam (1995), Marjorie (2007) and Gertrude (2011). Willard and his first wife, Catherine had four children, William, Robert, Barbara and James. He also had a Granddaughter, Shannon and a Great-Granddaughter, Abigail. His first wife, Catherine passed away in 2004. 

He remarried to his second wife, Ellyn Downing of Capeville, Virginia and they happily spent the later years of their lives traveling between Virginia's Eastern Shore and their winter home in Central Florida. 

Willard joined the United States Navy at the age of 17 and served his country during the height of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis in a variety of East Coast Duty Stations, aboard surface ships and submarines, both Diesel-Electric and Nuclear Powered, rising to the rank of Commissaryman, First Class. Over the course of his naval service, he visited ports in Bombay, India, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 

After his retirement from the Navy, he opened his first gas station at 35th and Colley Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia. He then relocated his business to Virginia Beach, serving his community through the turbulent 1973 and 1979 gas shortages. He treated his customers with honesty, integrity and had a laudable work-ethic which he passed on to his children. His honest dealings with the public earned him a great deal of respect throughout Virginia Beach. 

A memorial service will be held Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 2:00PM at Doughty's Funeral Home in Exmore, Virginia. Interment with Military Honors will follow in Capeville Masonic Cemetery.

Memorial Donations in his honor may be made to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. https://support.nmcrs.org/a/homepage

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.doughtyfuneralhome.com 

Arrangements were made by Doughty Funeral Home in Exmore, Virginia.