William “Bill” Earl Halfacre, age 74 of Arrington, TN, passed away Sunday, January 10, 2016.
William “Bill” Earl Halfacre, age 74 of Arrington, TN, passed away Sunday, January 10, 2016.

William “Bill” Earl Halfacre, age 74 of Arrington, TN, passed away Sunday, January 10, 2016. A native of Old Hickory, TN, he was preceded in death by his father, Donald Earl Halfacre.

Halfacre was Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for OPI Products Inc.

A veteran of the professional beauty industry, Halfacre held senior management and Chief Operating Officer positions within several of the industry’s largest companies.

Prior to joining OPI, Halfacre was a Senior Vice President of Purchasing for Regis Corporation. He was also previously a member of the senior management team of Sally Beauty Company.

Mr. Halfacre is survived by his wife, Deborah Bugbee Halfacre; mother, Emma Ruth Robinson of Granville, TN; children, Scott Earl Halfacre, and his wife Mary of Sevierville, TN, Robinn Jill Halfacre of Orlando, FL, Todd Robinson Halfacre of Atlanta, GA, and Kaitlin Dianne Halfacre of Boston, MA; grandchildren, Ashley Herman, Sarah and Zachary Halfacre.

A memorial service was held on Friday January 15, 2016, at Woodfin Memorial Chapel in Murfeesboro, TN.

“Bill Halfacre knew the Professional Beauty Industry better than anyone else.   We met in 1985 when he worked for a small company called Sally Beauty Supply (yes, at one time Sally Beauty Supply was small).  He requested a meeting for two reasons, one to know what OPI stood for, and two to buy our products.  I told him what the three letters stood for but also told him I saw a bigger future for OPI in the professional marketplace, as opposed to an open line.  He understood completely.

"From there grew a relationship built on mutual respect and trust.  He always kept his word.  Whatever he said, he never broke it.  You don’t build a reputation like his without following through.  He believed in always being upfront and he was never afraid of voicing his opinion.  We saw eye to eye on that.  

"Together we grew the nail business, first when he was at Regis and bought OPI for Trade Secrets and the Regis salons and after he left the Regis Corporation when we decided he should become OPI's Vice President of Sales.

 "He was a respected colleague and in many ways he was a mentor to me.  But most importantly, he was a good friend, a great poker partner and a man completely dedicated to his work and the people that he touched.  Ours was a unique relationship you don’t often see anymore.  He was a good man, one of the rare few that doesn't need adjectives beyond that.  Let me just say, I will miss him dearly.”— George Schaeffer, founder of OPI Nail Products and President of Aloxxi Professional Hair Care

“For the past 25 years I had the dubious honor and privilege of being Bill’s Executive Assistant.  While I will always remember how we started our work day, with a cup of coffee and our lame attempt to critique the previous night’s reality shows of Dancing With the STars, The Voice or American Idol (he was a huge fan even if he denied it), it’s the OPI Sales Team, Sales Support and Customer Service folks he had working behind him, giving him everything they had and more-so, that we would make him proud.  To us, the “team,” he was an incredible leader, friend and mentor.  He challenged and inspired us to be the best we could be and then when we thought we were great, he’d expect us to be better.  He was always there with an encouraging word when times were tough because his belief in our abilities far exceeded those we had of ourselves.  He had an incredible sense of humor and always enjoyed a good laugh whether it was at our expense or his.  He was family, and he is a one-of-a kind, simply irreplaceable human being.  I’m a better person because of him and I think I can speak for all of us when I say to know him was to experience him.  God bless you, Bill Halfacre. You did it your way!”—DeDe Sundin, OPI

Memorials in memory of Mr. Halfacre may be made to City of Hope.

An online guestbook for the Halfacre family is available at www.woodfinchapel.com.

 

 

 

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