William Ray “Bill” McCracken, 84, of Johnson City, Tennessee, passed away Monday, September 21, 2026, at the Mountain Home VA Medical Center. Born November 29, 1941, in Johnson City, Bill was the son of Samuel Buryel McCracken and Jessie Helen Martin McCracken. He was raised in the Telford and Limestone communities of Washington County and attended Washington College Academy.
Bill served in the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1970 during the Vietnam Era. He received an honorable discharge at the rank of Captain. After his service he worked as a Chemical Engineer. He was a lifelong learner… the kind of man who could explain chemistry to a child, teach that same child mathematics, and sit down at a Hills Department Store with a Timex Sinclair and show him how computers worked. That afternoon of if-then statements and GOTO commands is the reason his son works in IT today.
He loved the water and learned to sail, progressing from classes to bigger boats until he could tack into the wind with ease and take a boat out alone. He was an amateur photographer and an amateur painter; one of his paintings, dated 1966, still hangs in his son’s office. Music was another language, he spoke fluently. He introduced his son to the Beatles with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and that album is what started a lifelong love of their music. He did the same with Pink Floyd. He was an audiophile who loved Marantz amplifiers and Bose and McIntosh speakers. Neighbors came over just to hear how clean his stereo sounded. He would play anything they brought… Mozart, AC/DC, or Johnny Cash. He did not pick a lane.
Bill was his own person with exact standards and a precise way of doing things. He grew up going to Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Limestone, Tennessee, where his parents were later buried and where his mother, Jessie, was the church’s oldest member. As an adult he was not a regular churchgoer, but faith for him was personal. He was drawn to the words of Jesus themselves, and he believed a man should live them quietly rather than display them.
Bill is survived by his son, Scott Bentley McCracken, and daughter-in-law, Carla McCracken; by Carla’s son, Tristen; by his sister, Gail Rambo, and brother-in-law, Bill Rambo; and by his nephews, Art Rambo (Dawn) and Brad Rambo (Regina), and their families. He was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel Buryel McCracken and Jessie Helen Martin McCracken.
A memorial service with military funeral honors will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at Mountain Home National Cemetery, Mountain Home, Tennessee. Friends and family are requested to meet at Dillow-Taylor Funeral Home to go in procession at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you remember him with a song he would have turned up, or a kindness done without an audience.
Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.dillow-taylor.com
Dillow-Taylor Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Jonesborough, TN 423-753-3821
Dear Scott, very sorry to hear about your Dad. Peter called and told us. It's very hard when your parent's gone but time and memories help.
09/28/2026
Peter G Caravello
Bill was such a fun and interesting man! I remember meeting him as a teen, Scott and I going with him to the lake, or hanging out at his house. I remember listening to Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd on his custom modified speakers. I remember his modified blue VW Rabbit and asking, "What does this switch do?" right before I flipped it. His collection of cars and boats and odds and ends... Bill was the most interesting adult I knew as a young man. He loved Scott and we all see so much of Bill in Scott.
For some reason these lyrics pop into my head when I remember Bill:
Cause you were bred, for humanity
And sold to society
One day you'll wake up, in the present day
A million generations removed from expectations
Of being who you really want to be
I like to think Bill got to be who he really wanted to be and that's beautiful! He will missed!
09/28/2026
Linda Massey
So sorry for your loss. I was a friend of Bill's. I went to WCA also, but Bill was several years ahead of me. A dear friend that will be greatly missed. Prayers for the family. May God be with each of you ?
