Gerry
I met Bill in Sept 1973 when moving into Wallace Hall our freshman year.
He had the room across the hall and one down. His roommate was also Bill
so right off we had the "Which Bill? The other Bill" kinda conversations.
I hated Bill right from the start. Tall, long blond hair, killer body that
seemed natural because I never saw him work out or play sports. I played
basketball and other sports all the time but can't recall Bill doing any.
He seemed to be a man among boys. How were the rest of us supposed to
find girlfriends when they were all swooning over him, all the time?
But I am joking. Bill was the nicest guy and a great friend. It was my
freshman roommate Terry that got Mike, Bill, and myself into the Systems
Analysis program at IUP. He helped me with school work many times, Mike too
COBOL programming really sucked!!) and we lived in the same house (Animal House)
on Church Street for 1 1/2 crazy years. I was very surprised to find out
years later that both he and Mike were gay. In the mid 70's, I kinda thought
gay men were all totally overtly effeminate, which neither were.
In 2013, my wife Mimi decided she wanted to take a cruise from Florida for
her 60th birthday in March 2014. She had a good friend in Palm Beach she wanted
to visit as well. I hadn't heard from Bill in years so I sent him emails saying
that we could visit him one day if he was up for it.
For months I didn't get any replies so at the end of February I sent him one last note
saying I needed an answer within a couple days or I'd have to make other plans.
He replied that day saying that his partner Bill (the other Bill) had just
passed away, I believe in December. He said he wasn't sure about being social
so soon afterwards but I think he decided that since we lived in California
it would be a safe, low pressure one day outing.
We had a lot of fun. Bill took us to an orchid show at the Fairchild Tropical
Botanic Garden which also has a butterfly conservatory with thousands of
butterflies to walk around. (See pictures) My wife was hesitant about meeting
one of my old college buddies after all the stories I told her but she was
really happy to meet Bill and had a great time.
Bill told us about not wanting to be very social after Bill's passing and we
told him that he doesn't have to feel guilty and go looking for a replacement.
We said he should be more active, go out, have some fun. Don't be actively
looking for someone new but keep your eyes open if it happens. He wrote back
some few months later saying that he HAD met someone and he thanked us for
the encouragement to go out when his heart wasn't in it. If that was you Allen
Jones, you might have me to thank :-)
It was totally bizarre that a few months later my wife would die unexpectedly,
putting me into Bill's shoes.
A few months ago, I read about Texas and Florida having some of the lowest
vaccination rates for Covid. I sent emails to Mike and Bill in April, asking/
encouraging them to get the shot. Bill replied rather quickly that Yes he got
the shot, but didn't mention anything else. So I was totally shocked when Mike
wrote me at the end of April to say that Mo had called him and told him that
Bill would soon succumb to cancer.
What else can you say................
Gerry Mikoleit
6/10/21
My world keeps getting smaller
With each passing friend
But they made life so much better
Before that final end