Bill Kauffman

A Celebration of His Life

These initial comments are from George Marvin. 

If you have a tribute you would like to add, please send them to newnews@unit143.org and the design team will add them to this post.

Bill was a highly respected part of the St Charles community. He served
many years as Manager for Human Resources for St Charles County. His steady
leadership promoted the steady, productive, efficient growth of local
government.

Bill is survived by his loving daughters and grandchildren. His nursing
home room has been filled with artwork prepared by his grandchildren. (The
paper snowflakes he had surrounding his television never did melt . . . .)

Many duplicate bridge players enjoyed Bill's dry sense of humor. He loved
to tell a joke: he was never in a hurry to reach the punch line. Some of
his favorites were "Hotel for women only" and "The famous pretzel wrestling
hold".

Bill was a Bronze Life Master, reaching that level in about 8 years. He was
a wonderful partner for Sasanka, Jason, Eryk, Catherine, OC, Steve and Jane
Ettelson (his partner on holiday Mondays), to name a few.

Bill served on the Unit 143 Board of Directors during the past few years,
while his health was still good. He worked diligently to create our Unit
web page, where you may be reading these notes.

I last visited Bill Sunday, but he was not feeling well. Catherine Joyce,
Peggy Stewart and I joined Bill on Valentine's Day for a game of bridge. We
were planning a Scrabble game within the next few days . . .

The world is a better place for having Bill among us. We will miss his
fuzzy face and his never ending supply of fountain pens.
George Marvin

PS Bill and I drove to a tournament in Indianapolis a few years ago. He
forgot to take his fountain pen off the table during a brief break. He
looked for the pen a few minutes later, but could not find it. He asked the
Director to make an announcement about the pen, but nobody brought the pen
forward.

After the next round, Bill noticed a man with a pen that looked just like
his. He asked the man if he has found the pen that day and did not receive
a direct reply. Bill asked a few more questions; finally the man asked "Can
you tell me about some special identifying features on this pen?

" Well, it does have the initials WK on the end of the pen; those are my
initials." The pen was returned without further discussion.

George Marvin
***********

Bill was a mentor to me as I struggled to find my way in the world of duplicate bridge. He played with me and introduced me to other partners. He endured my many mistakes with incredible patience. Although he would certainly have preferred to be playing with a competent partner, he never showed the slightest hint of frustration. I doubt that I would have stuck with this game to which I'm now addicted were it not for him. Thanks, Bill. We'll all miss you.

Alan Lemley

***********