80 years ago yesterday…’twas a significant event indeed!

With honour and respect to Bill Bobbitt…

William has been a significant part of my life now for forty-four years. An interesting number in that I was born in ‘44 – perhaps symbiotic, more likely a mathematical coincidence. We met rather accidentally or at least innocently. I had finally learned to ski in the winter of 1973, having moved to Penticton the previous spring. It was under the tutelage of Al Menzies and when we got to March he asked me what sports I did when there was no snow. When I mentioned golf rather off-handedly, because I wasn’t that good, he said: Good, you can join our foursome. These are great guys, very different and very unique, so you’ll fit in just fine! This foursome included himself, myself, a retired RCMP officer Duff White (who actually knew some of the young officer who I met as a kid growing up on the Prairies) and Bill Bobbitt, a young brilliant teacher who was shortly to become a school administrator. I say brilliant without hesitation because whenever we were in the club house having a juice, young people would come up to him and say hi along with some compliment about how he had been their best teacher, or at least the only teacher that had ever been able to explain mathematics to them. There was even a rumour some students had a second set of clothes in their lockers in order to be accepted into his classroom where decorum was mandatory.

Bill turned out to be a thoughtful friend. He helped me get through my prelim orals for my doctorate by providing me a quiet study corner in the back of his bookroom at Princess Margaret (the Junior High version) when I took a short-term teaching gig between major consulting contracts in the mid 70’s. He was a member of an Educators’ Program Panel I established for the Salmonid Enhancement Program in the late 70’s, and was a valued guide as we developed the landmark curriculum package: Salmonids in the Classroom. And had the contract with the Penticton School Board not been cancelled, Bill would have helped reform the educational program in the Saskatchewan Region of Indian Affairs in the early 80’s.

We did a good deal of skiing in the early years of his retirement when I had a home on Apex (he also made sure my mailbox was checked regularly as we had no direct postal service on the mountain). He even shared some of his venison sandwiches with me on occasion which was something incredibly special since I had given up hunting in my teens. And we still ski often, now that I’ve returned to Apex. He handles a chain saw with great dexterity (he still has his fingers and toes) and often cut wood for my mountain home. More recently he resumed the practice so there would be wood for a condo I now share on the hill.

Bill also gave me solid advice on many occasions, probably more times than I cared to listen!! It was always thoughtful, never judgmental and with a genuine grounding in the Golden Rule. And when my mental wellness went south and my world started to go sideways, he was supportive and steady in his suggestions, never letting me lose sight of the ultimate goal – returning to a productive and worthwhile life.

Bill Bobbitt is a straight arrow – solid as the Rock of Gibraltar – among many things, a superb mathematics teacher and dedicated educational administrator. He continues to be a committed spouse, parent and grandparent. Always polite, oft-time restrained he is the embodiment of a great line from the judge in the motion picture Nobody’s Fool, starring Paul Newman when he admonishes Paul’s lawyer and the law enforcement officers involved in the case not to talk much – “Less is More!!”

As is evident I’m sure by now, William’s been a significant influence in my life and for a guy born in ‘44 it seems symbolic on this day to honour a man who shares a name and whose been a friend for 44 years,,,

Thank you, William…

Sinc

July 22nd, 2017