Sometimes I don't realize what I know and have learned from someone until they're gone. When Bill recently passed away, I started to think about him and what I knew about him and what he had taught me.

I always hesitated to call him by his first name, even though he seemed to prefer it. I was taught to address people with Mister or Miss when they were older than I am. But Bill seemed just as happy to be called by his first name.

He was retired from a rural electrical utility company and he visited the local senior citizen's center just about every day. But I didn't know much else about him, his community work, or his family. We never actually talked about them much.

Bill served on the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Area Agency on Aging for eight years, attending every meeting and joining in every discussion. He had a direct, easygoing style which made me and everyone else at ease. Yet, he wanted to know as much as he could before he made a decision.

I liked his thorough, non-threatening approach to difficult or controversial matters. He understood difficult matters easily and had a soothing manner, which helped de-escalate the emotions around him.

I remember he talked about his job with the rural electrical company, although I'm not certain if he worked in the office or as a lineman, maybe he had held both jobs at one time or another. He was proud of his work and seemed to know how to deal with people whether it was on the job or in the community.

Whenever I visited the senior citizen's center in Bill's hometown, he would come out of the senior center's pool room to say hello. He must have liked playing pool with the fellas because I always remember him with a pool cue in his hands as he greeted me.

I noticed that there were several pool tables in his senior center and that there was always a large group of men gathered around them. It seemed to me that this “pool room” was more for social gatherings than for serious games of pool. The men laughed too much, too loudly, and for too long to be involved in serious games. I could tell that Bill enjoyed this laughter.

I was saddened as Bill left the Board of Directors when his term expired because he lent a helping hand of encouragement to me and to the others on the Board. But also I realized that Bill was eager to get back full-time to his community and its activities, like the pool games and all its laughter. That's what I'll remember most about Bill, his easygoing style and his laughter in the pool room with his buddies.

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