Cover photo for William Bartlett "Bill" Melton's Obituary
William Bartlett "Bill" Melton Profile Photo
1960 William 2021

William Bartlett "Bill" Melton

December 31, 1960 — September 24, 2021

William Bartlett (Bill) Melton of Mansfield, TX, formerly of Virginia Beach, VA, Cincinnati, OH and Cape Girardeau, MO, passed away on Friday, September 24, 2021 at the age of 60.

A celebration of life service will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 4, 2021 at Mansfield Bible Church.

Bill was born on December 31, 1960 in Norfolk, VA to Joan (VanHorn) and Ralph Melton. He attended Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, VA, where he was an athlete who was a member of his High School Baseball, Track and Cross Country teams. Upon graduation, he went on to attend Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, where he was a proud member of Zeta Psi fraternity, Alpha Pi chapter, and especially loved cheering on his Hokies.

After graduating from college with his degree in Business, Bill began his career in the restaurant business which spanned the last four decades. As his career advanced, he worked for Pizza Hut in Virginia Beach and the Marriott Corporation in Northern Virginia. In 1988, he moved to Cincinnati to open a Ruby Tuesday restaurant and met his future wife, Christine, in the process of the Grand Opening. During the course of his career, Bill was an integral part of opening many different restaurant units. He worked for Applebee’s, both corporate and franchisees, as a General Manager and Area Director from 1993-2014, where he impacted countless employees with his ethic of hard work and high expectations for service. During the course of his employment he received numerous awards and recognition for his outstanding management.

On October 26, 2016, Bill fulfilled his lifelong dream of opening his own restaurant when he and his wife Christine opened Buffalo Wings & Rings in Arlington, Texas. Bill’s love of food, sports, music and people, combined with his operational expertise, culminated in a unique and fun-filled atmosphere.

Outside of work, Bill was a music connoisseur of many genres. As hard as he tried, he never found anyone who could beat him at music trivia. He was also possibly the biggest sports fan ever. His teams included the Cincinnati Reds and Virginia Tech Hokies, and he was also an unapologetic Washington Redskins Fan; however, he could talk to anyone extensively and with great knowledge about their own favorite team. He and his family enjoyed many fun-filled vacations traveling around the country to attend sporting events, and his favorite memories included attending the 1990 World Series games in Cincinnati and over 20 years of Reds Opening Days.

Bill married the love of his life, Christine (Behnfeldt) Melton on May 14, 1994 in Cincinnati, OH. His greatest desire was to make her happy and to provide for her and their two sons, Alex and Austin. Bill was a loving husband, father, brother, uncle and friend. His larger than life spirit will be deeply missed by everyone that knew and loved him.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Joan Melton.

Bill is survived by his loving wife, Christine Melton; sons, Alex Melton, of Mansfield, TX and Austin Melton of Denton, TX, where he currently attends the University of North Texas; sister and spouse, Dale and Jeff Floyd of Virginia Beach, VA; brother and spouse, Chip and Shannon Melton of Moyock, NC; father-in-law, Larry Behnfeldt of McClure, OH; mother-in-law, Sandy Hale of Napoleon, OH; brother-in-law and spouse, Chad and Sarah Behnfeldt of McClure, OH; nephews and nieces, Tim Floyd, Jon Floyd, Trey Melton, Ben Ruder and Grace Behnfeldt and their families; Chloe, his beloved Samoyed; numerous extended family members and all of the loyal employees, vendors and countless regular customers of Buffalo Wings & Rings, both past and present.
To send flowers to the family in memory of William Bartlett "Bill" Melton, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Service

Monday, October 4, 2021

Starts at 10:00 am (Central time)



Celebration of Life

Get Directions

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Guestbook

Visits: 13

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Send Flowers

Send Flowers

Send a Card

Send a Card