Bill had COPD and a long list of other ailments, for which he took a staggering amount of medicine. Needless to say, between the illness’s and medicine he very seldom felt good. Even at that, he was always good for a joke, a laugh, or a line of bull-shit.

A couple months ago, he was diagnosed with cancer running through his body, and given only a few weeks left to live. Knowing that he couldn’t survive surgeries, and had little  time left, they took him off most of his other medicines. That being done, he felt surprisingly well. He said the best he had felt in years.

He talked a lot about it, and was ready to go, I think it was almost a relief for him. We joked with him how “God didn’t want him and the Devil was afraid of him”…he thought that was quite funny. I guess he got one of them to take him.

The last couple of weeks, he got to go fishing with his sons, and to a Nascar race, these things meant a lot to him.

The last day, he was surrounded by family and friends, who all had a chance to say goodbye. Later that night he went to sleep, and was gone.

Bill will surely be missed ( coffee on their porch, dinner on ours ) but it was good to see him go with dignity and grace.

Our condolences to Francis and the rest of the family.