Over the last couple of years, Bill and I have exchanged a few emails. He was thrilled when he was inducted into the Greater St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. I am happy he was so honored before he passed. I also gathered that he was very close to, and really appreciated, his parents, who supported his zeal for Stan Musial and the Cardinals. As he wrote: "Stan was my hero and my Dad would take me to Musial & Biggies, and Stan was always there and always took time to talk to the fans, including me. I was star struck. Remember 1964 well. Our first World Series to enjoy. I remember my Mom took the Maloney boys, Jim and Butch, and me to the last game where the Cards won the pennant and then let us stick around for 2 hours afterwards to celebrate with the players. She was awfully good to me." Bill grew up in Bissell Hills and attended Gibson Elementary and East Jr. High. At RGHS, Bill hung out with Pat Blakeney, Jim Barbour, Nancy Jackson, John Banocy, Sandy Elmer, Jim Maloney, Lauren Kowalski, Kathie Merinbaum, Pam Bridger, Connie Baumgart and Ellen Leonard. Bill drove his Dad’s classic 1953 Black Ford Convertible. Nancy told me they rode around in that big black convertible all the time—with the top up! She said they had so much fun riding around in that car!!  Hearing about Bill has brought back some great memories and has made us very sad.

Senior year (probably spring of '69) we would pile into Bill's black convertible (top down) and go to play tackle football after school. It was a lot of fun and I still remember the gang singing Hey Jude at the top of our lungs with the wind blowing thru my now long gone curly locks... Goodbye Bill.