William T. ‘Bill’ Ristov, age 76, of North Platte, NE, died at his home on Tuesday, September 9, 2014.

Bill was born March 10, 1938, to Tasho and Kita Yancheva Ristov in Gevgelija, Macedonia, Yugoslavia. In his teen years, Bill immigrated alone as a refuge from Macedonia to the United States, settling in Lexington, NE. Here Shibble and Virginia Maloley kindly invited him to live with them and their children, 10 year old George, 7 year old Mary Ann and Sara who was 2 years old, while they taught him to speak English. They were like family to Bill. Mary Ann recalls sitting in a large red chair with her child’s story book trying to teach Bill to speak English when she was seven. She would get upset because Bill did not catch on fast enough! Thus began a 60 year lifetime relationship between Bill and the Maloley family who loved him as their own. There were also many other Maloley families in the Lexington area that knew and loved Bill.

In 1959 Bill graduated from Lexington High School and it was in Lexington where he met his future wife, Carol. They married on April 15, 1965. Bill hired on with the Union Pacific Railroad on December 9, 1965, in the Signal Dept. The family moved to North Platte during the summer of 1966 where Bill transferred to the UPRR Car Dept. He retired from there on February 1, 2006, after 40 years of working many long, hard hours to support his family.

Bill was a very outgoing and friendly person. It seems he never knew a stranger. Other than football, his favorite hobby was fishing. One morning the family opened the NP Telegraph and were surprised to see a picture of Bill and his oldest son, William, fishing at the inlet at Lake Maloney.

When his only daughter, Natasha, was born in 1982, Bill began looking forward to walking her down the aisle at her wedding. His one wish came true on September 17, 2011, when Natasha married Dustin Crowe in North Platte.

In the past few years Bill had developed a love for studying the Bible. He attended the meetings at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses where he participated in offering comments from the Bible and had been encouraging others to study the Bible as well. Bill was loved and will be missed by all his dear family and friends in North Platte and Lexington.

Survivors include his wife, Carol, of North Platte; his children, William, of St. Paul, NE, Terence, of Holdrege, NE, Anthony (Melea), of Broken Bow, NE and Natasha (Dustin) Crowe, of North Platte; and six grandchildren who he was very proud of, Arri, Anya, Carter, Makenna, Mason and Parker. He is also survived by his sister, Ratka Karkalasheva, of Skopje, Macedonia, and her daughters, Slobodonka and Gordonna and their families; as well as his many friends.

Bill was preceded in death by his son, Jerome, in 2014; his parents, Tasho and Kita; a sister, Nada Zajkova; his brother, Risto Ristov; and his beloved friends, Shibble and Virginia Maloley, who helped him get a start in this country.

Cremation was chosen. A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Saturday, September 27, 2014, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The memorial book may be signed at odeanchapel.com or prior to the service at the Kingdom Hall. Memorials are suggested to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Odean Colonial Chapel at C & Sycamore is in charge of arrangements.