BILL

Have you ever wondered what it may feel like to be part of history? Well, our 86-year-old client, Bill can tell you. Being a Navy man of 38 years, a goodly portion of Bill’s career was spent under water as Chef of the USS Sargo (583),  a nuclear submarine making the very first submerged exploration of the Arctic Basin.

The difficult trip in the shoaled waters of the Bering Strait, the fifty-mile stretch of waters that separate the U.S. from the U.S.S.R,  was often tense and harrowing involving navigating through a maze of often 20 foot deep ice ridges with a slim clearance between thick impenetrable ice and the bottom of the continental shelf.

At one point in time the critically necessary iceberg detector failed and was jury rigged just as the Sargo was passing under an ice island 4 miles by 10 miles in size and 160 feet deep. The detector had been providing some distorted information and suddenly a loud WHAM resonated throughout the submarine. The collision alarm sounded while the  submarine came to a full stop a mere 148 feet from the bottom. Through the skill of the crew, the submarine managed to maneuverer its way out of  harm’s way and surface to inspect for damage.  Fortunately only the sail or top of the submarine that resembles a dorsal fin was affected along with one periscope. The Sargo finally reached the geographic North Pole on February 9th, 1960, surfacing through 3 feet of thick ice in temperatures averaging 40 degrees below zero. There the Hawaiian flag was placed to mark the successful exposition while giving homage to the Sargo’s home port of Pearl Harbor, HI. All and all the mission covered 11,000 miles, 6,003 under ice and all but 300 miles submerged.

Many more life experiences as Chef shaped Bill’s life. Some include a near nuclear disaster as a result of an onboard fire and training of a young man, who, years later, provided top cryptographic secrets to the Soviets and was arrested for espionage. Bill finally “retired” with his wife Marilyn in San Diego County. That’s when Bill’s 2nd career emerged. As a young boy Bill loved to whittle. Years later his interest blossomed into a fantastic woodworking artform. Meticulously studying and modeling his subjects before putting his tools to work, the end result is incredibly detailed and lifelike. Today, Bill has carved  over 1200 lifelike elks to be presented to dignitaries of the Elks Lodge, as well as selling his work to those who commission him.

Although Bill’s daughters talk to him nearly every day, they began to worry about him after their mother passed almost four years ago. Even though Laura and Diane make the trip from out of state to visit often, their career and lives, as well as that of their brother’s, Tom, make it difficult to be there on a daily basis. And, after a recent hospital stay coping with failing health, it was time to pull out all the stops when doctors said there was no more treatment that would provide additional help. Bill, who equated being slender with good health, was just not eating properly or hydrating enough. Enter Meals-on-Wheels and our caring volunteers. Bill, a man of great discernment, not only thoroughly enjoys the meals, but feels every single volunteer has been special, kind and caring. Just like the improved health outcomes reported in the recent Meals on Wheel America study, Bill and his family have experienced the same results. Even Bill’s doctors are impressed with the change in him which not only includes his physical well-being, but an improvement in his happiness quotient as well! Now Bill is hopeful and lives for yet another day of friends, sculpting and sharing incredible stories and life lessons.