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Wild Willy

5K views 22 replies 21 participants last post by  Rev Ken 
#1 · (Edited)
Sad news. Our great contributor Bill Telle (Wild Willy) passed away Friday November 20. It seems, within hours of making his last entry in this forum.
Bill was simply the most supportive and giving human being I have ever known but never actually, physically met! His support for me when I was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2014 was extraordinary and inspiring. I did not find out until later that his wife Karen had been lost to lymphoma some years earlier and he had been active in blood cancer support groups ever since.
Things might have got a bit rowdy on this forum when Bill was on full song, but it was never, ever dull!

Vale Wild Willy

www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/muscatinejournal/name/theodore-w-telle-bill-obituary?n=theodore-w-telle-bill&pid=197169513&fhid=13733
 
#2 ·
I am so sorry to hear of Bill's passing. He was certainly a shining light on this forum. The Worst Jokes Ever section will never be the same without him. Rest in peace, Bill.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for following up on this, Ian. I thought this was the case, as you know. He is greatly missed on here.
 
#17 ·
Ian, thank you for sharing. I am so saddened to be reading this. When he announced his illness here in his "last bump" posting recently, it hit me with great sadness. It is a bit 'peculiar' to me (not sure if that is the right word?) that one can be impacted by so by someone they pretty much only know online. I read Bill's last bump in the road announcement to my wife that night that I first read it and, every few words, my voice would break as I read it to her. Many of us have been here a while.

I actually did meet Bill briefly at the Cass F800 Rally and got to chat at breakfast one morning. I found him kind, humorous and warm. He will be missed. I am glad that he had a chance to say, 'goodbye', to all. Many folks do not get that chance. I will tip a glass to him this evening and think of the memories.
 
#18 ·
Thanks Gerry. Bill was on my bucket list of people I hoped to meet sometime...sometime. Bloody Covid has stuffed those plans!
As a measure of this amazing man, here is something he sent me when I found I was back on the Lymphoma treadmill two years ago.

Each Other

When we strip away
all that is inconsequential
And much of what we feel is important
is inconsequential
We're left with what really matters
Each other

In sorrow painted with tears
and in smiles tinged with laughter
In the brightness of day
and in the darkness of night
In the rebirth of spring
and in the aging of winter
We have each other

In the pain of grief
and in the joy of new life
In the emptiness of doubt
and in the fullness of hope
and in a BMW forum
We have each other.

We possess much
and own nothing
We strive to reach perfection
and lose sight of the fact
that we're already there
We have all we really want
and everything we really need
We have Each Other

A saxophonist, motorcyclist and... a poet. We are really lucky to have "met".

 
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