I met Billy 5 years ago when I was consulting at Legacy Toyota. He reminded me so much of my family from Missouri! When we were on the phone, he’d ask me when I was coming down for a visit. When I was at the dealership, as soon as he saw me he’d give me the biggest Billy bear hug ever. He gave great hugs.
There was a time that I sent over 100 missed call opportunities to the GM at the time. Billy called and asked where I found them and we had a conversation about it. A week later he’d called every one of those 100 missed ops and gotten 80 appointments. 80!
Billy and I kept in touch after he left Legacy and I became quite close with him and Dina. A few years ago I discovered that I had trusted someone that didn’t deserve it, and Billy was a shoulder to cry on. He checked on me quite often and made sure I was ok. Our last conversation was right before he got sick. He would always end our calls with “I love ya, girl!” And I’d always reply that I loved him too. I didn’t know that would be the last time I’d speak to him or I would have kept the conversation going. He wanted to come and visit me in Wisconsin this summer because anything below 40 degrees wasn’t gonna cut it. I can only imagine what he’d have done if it was -40! Billy loved his family and his friends and was always there for them. He could always make people laugh, but it’s his kindness that I’ll remember the most.
The world just won’t be the same without Billy in it.