William F. "Bill" Gonder, III

Bill Gonder, age 76, of Hendersonville, entered into his promised and long awaited new life through Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday, March 29th, 2026.

Bill was born in Morristown, NJ on November 28th, 1949 and was a lifelong resident of NJ until moving to TN in 2013. Most of his life was spent in the small town of Flanders, NJ.

Bill was an avid NASCAR and NHRA fan and attended many racing events and car shows. He especially enjoyed going to the Daytona 500 race. Muscle cars were his "thing". He was an excellent mechanic and could usually be found perfecting some kind of hot rod in a garage with his buddies. As the automotive industry moved toward computerization, his interest waned and he graduated from 4 wheels to 18 wheelers. He drove tractor trailers for many years and also plowed snow, along with his brother, when winter's blizzards slammed the Garden State.

Bill had an amazing memory. He could also complete complicated math calculations in his head. Both of those skills never left him. He loved history. He was a very serious reader. He loved Bible study above everything else. All of those things made him a trivia guru and a humble one at that!

Bill would love your memory of him to be seated in his chair, glasses dangling from the end of his nose, Bible open on his lap or in his hands with a strong cup of coffee on the side table. Reading and absorbing God's word was his joyful, serious business.

Bill married his wife, Lisa, on April 1st, 1972. He picked that particular day, April Fool's Day, because he said he would never forget it. He never did! Bill went home to be with Jesus forever three days before their 54th wedding anniversary.

Bill was preceded in death by his father, William F Gonder, Jr., his mother, Eleu (Helen) Gonder and his younger sister, Deborah Troxell.

Bill's younger brother, Dale, lives in Hickory, NC with his wife, Jeannie.

He has many nieces, nephews and cousins scattered across the country and around the globe.

Funeral Services will be conducted on Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 12:00 P.M. in the Chapel at First Baptist Church Hendersonville. A private family burial will be held at Beech Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be on Thursday from 11:00 A.M. until time of service at the church. 

Bill and Lisa are members of First Baptist Church Hendersonville. In lieu of flowers, they ask that donations be made in Bill's memory to The Backpack Ministry at their church.

"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." - I Thessalonians 4:13