I wrote the following on the day of his death.
A SPECIAL FRIEND
I knew Bill first as a neighbor; soon afterward he became a friend. I’ve known him now for almost 35 years and in that time I have learned many things about him. He grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington and learned at an early age what hard work was and that money didn’t grow on trees. He started college at Whitman in Walla Walla, but his schooling was interrupted when he left by train to serve his country in the Second World War. He didn’t talk much about that time in Germany, but he did tell me a story about one place he was stationed. Their base was near a pasture and a cow was kept in this pasture. Sometimes at night he would slip through the fence and milk the cow then share the milk with his buddies. “Nothing ever tasted so good” he said. The next words out of his mouth were “I felt bad for taking milk from the German lady and her family”. Bill didn’t go hunting in Wallowa County, something that almost everyone else does here. He said he had enough of guns during the war. The American flag flew from his front porch almost everyday for as long as we’ve been neighbors. He was a gentle, humble, kind, loving man with a deep faith in God.
When Bill returned to Walla Walla after the war his Sweetheart, Jane Lust was waiting for him. They finished college, married, and both applied for a teaching job in Lostine, Oregon. They found themselves teaching students not much younger than themselves, and made lifelong friends in those early days. After teaching for a few years in Lostine Bill and Jane moved to Joseph, where Bill served as superintendent of schools for the rest of his career. Bill loved to tell the story of their move to Wallowa County. They planned to stay here for about five years, make enough money to pay off their bills and then move to a place where they really wanted to live for the rest of their lives. It didn’t quite go as planned and some sixty years later they are still paying the bills, but they did find the place they wanted to spend the rest of their lives; Wallowa County, the place they call home.
The house on Barton Heights in Joseph was soon filled with children, Bill, Mike, Steve, Charlie and twins Bob & Linda. The small acreage that came with it gave them room for a vegetable garden and the old barn surrounded by a pasture was the perfect place for a milk cow to graze. The cow would give milk to help feed their growing family and also supply fertilizer for the garden. My first memory of Bill is seeing him go out the back door of the house, wearing old clothes and a baseball cap with a milk pail in his hand. The cow had to be milked before he went to work. Two hours later he left the house by the front door, dressed in a suit and tie on his way to work at the Joseph schools. Sometimes he drove the old pickup, but most days he walked to work, I think he liked the quiet walk to gather his thoughts for the sometimes long day ahead of him, especially the days when a bond was being voted on to provide much needed money for programs at school.
Bill loved his family above all else, he supported them in whatever path they chose, and then he guided them gently toward their goals. As the grandchildren and great grandchildren came along they found a special place in his heart and he would beam with pride as he talked about them.
I had the privilege of working in the school system for Bill; there I came to know him as a professional, Mr. Williams. His job as superintendent was not a nine to five job but a job that encompassed his entire life. The needs of the students and staff were always put before his own needs. He worked long and hard to make sure the school system was the best he could make it and always treated his entire staff in a kind and compassionate manner. It didn’t matter if you were a teacher or a janitor, to him you were an important part of the school and first and foremost you were treated as a person. He looked for individual strengths in everyone and always the good in people never their shortcomings. Bill was respected and loved and looked up to as a role model by both students and staff.
Our children were privileged to know him as a friend and neighbor as well as their school superintendent. Our son learned the rules of baseball and sportsmanship when he played for the “Red Socks”, the little league team that Mr. Williams coached for many years, long after his own sons were grown and married. He coached because he loved the game but most of all because he loved teaching kids. Our children looked up to him with respect because he lived as an example, someone to pattern life after.
After retirement Bill continued to serve his community as he had the school, active in Masons, Rotary and the Methodist Church. He was loved and respected by family, friends and the community he served.
We continued visiting as neighbors, usually on the front patio of Bill and Jane’s retirement home. They were still our neighbors, only now two doors up instead of next door. Little did I know when we moved to the house in Joseph that the first people we met here would play such an important part in our life. Many days we sat on the patio, taking a break from mowing, weeding, planting or watering. We visited about family, local issues, aches and pains, the weather, traveling, the days when we were both at the school and how young all of us were when we first met. He almost always had a joke to tell and I loved his sense of humor.
The last few years haven’t been easy for Bill, with a hip replacement that put him in the hospital in Boise for almost two months. Then learning to walk with a cane, manage oxygen full time and other health problems has been very difficult. But he faced them all with determination and continued life like he had always lived it, taking one day at a time and doing what had to be done.
Ours was an easy friendship, a treasured friendship and now I have the memories to last me a lifetime, because I knew a special man. A man named Bill, a man named Mr. Williams, a gentle, humble, kind, loving man with a deep faith in God. Thank you Bill for being my friend.
I accomplished the main thing on my list yesterday and mailed out the sorority invitations, to the sister sororities, for our annual Founders Day to be held, on April 28th. Also I paid monthly bills, balanced the checkbook and made a little headway on the house cleaning. I have write group today, but will read some of my blog about the Imnaha writers retreat.
Chatted with both "kids", caught up on scrabble. Sun is shinning!! OWAV:)
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