Remembering Bill Chapman
The words below came from co-workers who knew him best, yet still felt there
was so much left unsaid:
Old Fashioned: Raised in Arizona, Bill had that rugged, sun weathered look
along with the “cowboy” personality and values of a bygone era (a true gentleman
who would never allow a woman to lift anything in his presence).
Kind: Sensitive to what was going on with others and always looking to where he
could lend an ear or a hand.
Caring: He always spent time with his co-workers and family whenever he could.
Thoughtful: He never had a lot of money, but whether it was someone’s birthday,
retirement, accomplishment or loss, he always managed to find the perfect words
or gift(s) to fit the occasion and personality.
Appreciative and positive: Bill was always in the state of gratitude. He
appreciated his work, friends, family, surroundings, and most important, his life.
He lived as if there were no tomorrow and every moment sacred.
Love of Food and Gatherings: Bill loved any kind of gathering that included
friends and food. At after work Happy Hours, he always ordered a Long Island
Ice Tea, and never showed a change in mood.
Intelligent: During IT brainstorming sessions, Bill’s insights, ideas and
suggestions were always well thought out and helpful. If a problem came up that
could not immediately be solved, he thought about for as long as it took to come
up with a solution or direction.
Love of technology: As a volunteer, when Bill realized he needed a greater
breadth of understanding about computer networked systems, he took classes
and got his Computer A+ certification; all this on his own time. Yet he didn’t stop
there; he then studied in depth another staff’s notebook on Network Operations.
His knowledge grew in leaps and bounds and he became invaluable to the IT
Group.
Perseverance: Give Bill a problem and he would practically spend night and day
to find out the answer.
Hardworking: He never complained about how much work he had to do.
.
Dependable: Bill would arrive at work early every morning, before anyone else.
If there were problems with computer systems, it was already fixed, or he had a
detailed report of the problem when the rest of the IT staff showed up for work.
Organized: Given a task, Bill was off and running. When asked to keep track of
Help Desk calls and requests, he immediately set up a data base, and from then
on kept notebooks for each year. These books later helped the IT Group to
justify requests for increased staff and equipment, and later helped to get Bill
hired as a permanent staff member.
Brave: Daily he dealt with the challenges of Cystic Fibrosis, yet never complained
or used his health as an excuse not to perform in his work or help family and
friends. He had an amazing smile and never once did anyone see him in a bad
mood. When coughing ravaged his body so hard and worried coworkers, he
eased their fears by just taking it in stride and continued his work as usual.
Strong: Bill was tall and thin as a wisp, yet he could lift, pull or push anything. He
was equally strong in will. When he made up his mind about something, there
wasn’t anything he wasn’t capable of doing; this was evident not only in how he
dealt with his illness, but every aspect of his life.
Hair: Bill had the thickest mop of brown hair any of us had ever seen, and
without a lick of grey.
Love for family and friends. He would stop everything to help out one of his
family members or friends; always there to share in their joy, support in their grief,
or help in a crisis. It was clear how much he admired his dad. In fact, the last trip
he made (against medical advice) was a flight to see his dad in Ohio.
Bill is greatly missed and thought of often.