My Great uncle died this morning.

As much as we knew it was coming and soon , your never quite ready

Uncle Bill was my dads hunting mentor and really mine also.

my Grandpa didn't hunt he tried for a couple years, he was a great man but a city kid who was never into guns or hunting , kinds squeamish about food looking at him also my grandma used to have to cut the heads off the chubs before she served them.

Uncle Bill , was a country kid , an Island kid , born in Sister Bay WI and raised on Washington island he was always outside. He followed in his fathers career for a while as a great-lakes commercial fisherman. he captained the Ranger for several years but with the declining fishing , he took job at AMC in Kenosha , and then when that closed moved back to Door county to work for Bay ship in Sturgeon bay. he never got too far from commercial fishing and fished with a family out of Baileys harbor for many years part time.
Door county probably suffered the loss this year when he grew ill of the last guy in the county fixing gill nets , if not the last probably very close to it.
he worked for Bay ship as a machinist and tug captain till he retired , usually laid off over the summer he captained for Roen salvage most summers and filled in with a little fishing when it was available.
the son of a commercial fisherman and the grandson of a great lakes boat builder , he had nautical in his blood. if you said toss me that rope he would correct you and ask if you were a cowboy cause cowboys use rope , we toss lines.

come deer season he was the hunt-master , where we hunted what drives we did , I learned from him when he and had his new knees and missed season about 8 years ago I filled in planning the hunt , after that it shifted a lot more to me , as he was slowing down. his knees eventually got better after the double replacement but there were a few years he would drive to a stand close to the road and sit in his lawn chair just a few yards from the truck. he would sit so still he would have deer just yards in front of him , he passed on a lot of deer in the later years, he would hold his hand out below his waste to tell you they were little ones he let pass.

we had to hit the bar Friday night not for heavy drinking but to catch up with his old friends although every year there were getting to be less of them and get a fish fry , the bar loved us and would hold us a table for the time we said we would be there. the bar probably only had 8 tables and they would slide 4 of them together for our crew to get around. we would keep the fryer busy with perch or cod depending on the year and fries.
Friday fish fry for he and his family was almost as much a religion as church on Sunday. Fish boil was the meal of family gatherings White fish , red potatoes and white onions Bill was a boil master he always had a pot , before he left the shipyard he turned himself a set of burners and took his fish boiling to propane as it opened up the places you could hold a boil not needing a large ground fire and leaving a mess..

Bill has been suffering with pancreatic cancer for the last few years , we were exceptionally lucky that we got him last year , he had a good year although aunt Joan had convinced him she was doing well enough he should go to the island for deer camp she had breathing problems Saturday night and he went home Sunday morning on the first boat but , he was in good health remission at that time and he really did enjoy himself.
Aunt Joan died in March of 2019, his cancer returned and by September he looked like half of himself skin and bones.

we went to visit him a few weeks ago the last Saturday in September at the care home he had been placed in , he had a good day and he got to see both his sisters as well as the rest of us. we all kind of knew that was likely the last time most of us would see him or really he would be well enough to see us.
his mind was still sharp but his body so failing.
he died with all his kids close by.


well at least the suffering is over and he can take his rest.

heres hoping for a happy hunting ground in the sky

He sounds like a great man.

I am sorry for your loss.

Keith

Prayers for your loss.
Yes there is a happy hunting ground, smile when you think of it.

Osky

He would be honored with your story of him as we are too.
Sorry for your loss. Thoughts and prayers from Georgia.

Looked at an old cigar box full of photos yesterday from the early 70's when I started deer hunting. All of the adults are now gone. Deer camp was torn down and a sub development and numerous roads are now present. It hurts to think that times change and people pass on and we are left with just faded photos and memories! God Bless your Great Uncle and this weekend when the sun rises over your stand say a prayer again for him as I will for all those that shared a buck camp with me over the years!

Chris

Sorry for your loss. Praying for your family.

Sorry for your loss. I'm praying for you and your family

Prayers for all of you in the Family!!!

Sorry for you loss my friend. We enjoy Sister Bay as well as the rest of Door County. My Dad was the teacher of deer hunting and he taught me well. I enjoy deer hunting but after watching Dad die and my son die of cancer it is not as much fun to hunt. The deer are my freinds now and eat from my hands and smell my finger before I rub there backs. The deer see me in the shed, they come to look in and then follow me to the house. They like malt balls but I can not feed them. So again so Sorry for your loss and all of ours as well. I will send off a couple prayers for all!

God Bless.

Sorry for your loss. Cancer has taken far too many I have known as well.

sounds like a great man ,prayers sent

A great story about a great person .That he loved the outdoors is obvious from your story and because of that he passed it on to you and others .The best way to honor him is let others know what he was really like. And to pass the love of the outdoors to others that are just getting started .

Prayers for your family.

Thanks for sharing. Hold the memories close.

Those old memories are the greatest. Sorry for your loss.

Thankyou all

I am just so thankful that my son got 5 years hunting with Uncle bill also.

he was standing just down from him when he shot his first deer at age 12. I was the driver pushing the junipers on that last drive of the season for us that year.

Sorry to hear about your loss. He sounds like he was a great man. Prayers for you and your family.

Prayers for you and family.

Sorry to hear about your loss.