Bill lost his battle with pancreatic cancer this week, a battle he had been waging for the past year. His was a battle he had slim chance of winning, but as long as there was even a small chance of overcoming the monster, he stood his ground and gave renewed life to the phrase, “Death Be Not Proud.”

In staging his fight, Bill gave us all a precious gift - his lessons in courage from which it is possible to glimpse his amazing strength of character and the heights to which the human spirit can rise in the face of overwhelming adversity. For, while he faced the elephant, Bill never cowered and never thought to yield.

Some will find in Bill’s passing the realization of their own mortality, and, in finding it, begin the search within themselves in preparation for that which is inevitable and which, in the end, we must each face on our own.

Some will have already pondered the questions that confront us all when we stop to consider that we, too, will someday face the end of our given time on this planet and will recognize in Bill’s death just how short that time really is.

For the young, Bill’s passing will, for a time, be something that happens to others and will barely dent the impenetrable feeling of immortality that is uniquely the purview of Youth.

But no matter our individual reactions to his death, Bill left behind a lesson in courage, dignity and strength from which we can all draw to better our own moral fiber. For, in the end, the true measure of our character is not whether we win or lose the battle, but how we stand up to that which seeks to reduce us to nothingness. And, like the vastly outnumbered and overwhelmed Spartans at Thermopylae, Bill dug in, fought back and sapped every ounce of strength he could from his enemy before he was finally overcome.

An amazing man. A courageous battle. A legacy of strength of character.

He will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.

Godspeed, Bill.