By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
Family members said Thursday that William Webb wasn’t perfect, but things had been looking up for the 25-year-old before a head-on collision claimed his life Tuesday on his way home for Christmas.
“He had his issues, but he did a total turnaround,” his mother, Kathy Taylor, said Thursday. “He was like a totally different person.”
Taylor said his transformation started after Webb completed his GED at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
And landing a job at KRC Building Solutions of Cleveland three months ago meant a new beginning. Although the job kept him on the road a lot, it also meant a stable income that could help provide for his three sons, Elijah, 8; Xavier, 6, and Gabriel, 3.
Taylor said the family was in “total shock” when they got the call about Webb’s death.
“I don’t know if I’ll even be able to celebrate Christmas,” she said.
Webb was one of three Rowan County men killed in the accident in North Dakota on Tuesday. Derek Sorrell, 27, of Spencer and Scotty Eagle, 24, of Salisbury also died.
The men were traveling eastbound in a 2004 Lincoln Navigator on U.S. 52, when they struck a 2012 Mack Truck traveling westbound. The driver of the Navigator was attempting to pass another eastbound vehicle, according to a report issued by the North Dakota Highway Patrol.
Taylor described her son as “bubbly.”
“He was just the type of person that when he made a friend they stayed friends,” she said. “He would do something to help someone before would do for himself.”
Webb spent as much time as possible with his sons, Taylor said.
“They saw them all the time when he was off,” she said.
Taylor said Webb was always around for his younger brother, Steven Webb.
“The man raised me when our father refused to,” Steven wrote on Facebook. “The best role model I can think of.”
Steven said his brother loved his sons and was “always a joy to be around.”
Although Webb loved working for KRC, Taylor said he was ready to get back home.
“As a matter of fact, he had just put on Facebook how excited he was to be coming home because he missed all of us,” she said. “We were finally going to have a really nice time at Christmas this year.”
Eagle was also anxious to get home.
The 2006 North Rowan High School graduate posted a similar comment on his Facebook page Monday.
“I miss everybody back home,” he wrote.
Lee Ealey, one of Eagle’s close friends, said he was a genuinely nice guy.
“He was a fun guy to be around,” he said. “I will truly miss him.”
Sorrell was also fun loving, according to his mother, Chris Kepley.
Kepley said Wednesday her son “would do anything for anybody.”
He was engaged and planned to marry in May.
Funeral arrangements for the men are still under way.
KRC Building Solutions officials could not be reached for comment.
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.
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