Billy was my next door neighbor from 1955 through 1962. In 1959 he slipped on his teeter-totter and had a gash in his leg that needed 22 stitches. He was younger (born in 1952) than the other guys but he still fit in and was a member of the Night Owls.
One year when caming at my granparents farm I was in a tent with Bill. He woke at 2AM in a panic because he couldn't find his suitcase. The following year he left a shoe behind on the farm. My mother drove the 240 miles to get it.
He was the only boy in a family of about 28 girls. His father was great and let me put up a backboard and basket on their garage (our driveway was rocks) and agreed to let us build treeforts and clubhouses on his property. In 1970 he worked at a printer's and in the evening at Bud's station at 14th and 66th.
Ran into Slim in 1972 and he had grown in all directions. Last time I saw Slim was in 1975 when he lived about two blocks from my mother in North Minneapolis. He was married to Jeanne Seyer in 1973 and had a son, Slim II, and was a body shop man planning to set up his own workshop in his garage. We went back to New Zealand and lost touch with him.
Updated 2007: Found his son and sent off a letter, but no reply. However through other contacts we heard that he was divorced and had been in a motorcycle accident which left him quadriplegic.
Bill passed away in December 2007 from those injuries.
Updated 2015: Made contact with Patrice who put me onto Bill's daughter, Stacey. She filled me in on Bill's life and provided details of his accident and subsequent days in medical care.
He had a 20 acre plot on which he planted 10,000 pine trees. He had horses and loved riding. He was a manager for an engineering company.
More photos of Bill at Night Owls. |
