Brother John Meek gave these words from the Pulpit today at Brother Bill's church service -
Bill Timpany (Memorial) 11-24-2012
On behalf of The Masons of Lodge # 55, and of Wisconsin, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the people of Presbyterian Church, condolences of the passing of your Father and Grandfather. The longest member of our Lodge, and this church.
What a great life he has had in this his 100th year having lived past 99. The things he must have seen and lived through, we only see in old films and read in the history books. He probably started registering thoughts and events of his life at the end of 1917-18. An America vastly different from to-day.
When hard work and education and your faith in God is what you lived by. No health insurance, unemployment compensation nor food stamps. Everywhere you went you walked. As a wee boy he probably watched parades of the Doughboys coming home at the end of the First World War. Then as a teenager through the Twenties, a young man in the depression of the Thirties, and then of course his service in the Second War.
Earlier this year I spent time with Bill, presenting him with a Masonic Shirt and Hat on behalf of the Brothers of Lodge #55. For some reason when I started talking he wanted to tell me about his parents who hailed from Old Kilpatrick in Scotland. We say Auld Kilpatrick, which is across the River Clyde and 15 miles east of Greenock where I was born.
He told me how he admired and hardworking his Dad was, never swore, never had a headache, nor never drank. Making him smile, telling him I was also hardworking and I’d never had a headache, and I’ve heard of some Scotsmen that don’t drink, a rare breed indeed. Then I corrected myself about headaches, telling him in my younger days all my headaches were self induced.
He reminisced about old Janesville, what it was like downtown. How it was always bustling with people. He told me where old buildings used to be, about a big fire where the old Woolworths was. His dairy creamery in the area near Craig High School, his son in The Middle East and his family. We talked about many subjects, and never a lull in the conversation, which is common when two Scotsmen meet. Time with him went by way too fast, and he was doing most of the talking.
I enjoyed that time I spent with him that afternoon, but I seen he needed a nap.
The body was slowing down, he was not a man in dotage, the mind was sharp and I seen a man who wasn’t afraid of the dark.
It was a privilege to have known him, my fellow brother Mason, American and Scotsman.
Bill Timpany (Memorial) 11-24-2012
On behalf of The Masons of Lodge # 55, and of Wisconsin, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the people of Presbyterian Church, condolences of the passing of your Father and Grandfather. The longest member of our Lodge, and this church.
What a great life he has had in this his 100th year having lived past 99. The things he must have seen and lived through, we only see in old films and read in the history books. He probably started registering thoughts and events of his life at the end of 1917-18. An America vastly different from to-day.
When hard work and education and your faith in God is what you lived by. No health insurance, unemployment compensation nor food stamps. Everywhere you went you walked. As a wee boy he probably watched parades of the Doughboys coming home at the end of the First World War. Then as a teenager through the Twenties, a young man in the depression of the Thirties, and then of course his service in the Second War.
Earlier this year I spent time with Bill, presenting him with a Masonic Shirt and Hat on behalf of the Brothers of Lodge #55. For some reason when I started talking he wanted to tell me about his parents who hailed from Old Kilpatrick in Scotland. We say Auld Kilpatrick, which is across the River Clyde and 15 miles east of Greenock where I was born.
He told me how he admired and hardworking his Dad was, never swore, never had a headache, nor never drank. Making him smile, telling him I was also hardworking and I’d never had a headache, and I’ve heard of some Scotsmen that don’t drink, a rare breed indeed. Then I corrected myself about headaches, telling him in my younger days all my headaches were self induced.
He reminisced about old Janesville, what it was like downtown. How it was always bustling with people. He told me where old buildings used to be, about a big fire where the old Woolworths was. His dairy creamery in the area near Craig High School, his son in The Middle East and his family. We talked about many subjects, and never a lull in the conversation, which is common when two Scotsmen meet. Time with him went by way too fast, and he was doing most of the talking.
I enjoyed that time I spent with him that afternoon, but I seen he needed a nap.
The body was slowing down, he was not a man in dotage, the mind was sharp and I seen a man who wasn’t afraid of the dark.
It was a privilege to have known him, my fellow brother Mason, American and Scotsman.
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