Dear Rowena and family. Linda and I were overseas when Keith Laidlaw let Linda know on FB that Bill had gone into hospice care and subsequently passed away. Bill was a very good friend at Southland Boys High School. We both enjoyed sports with Bill excelling at Rugby. Had he chosen to show an interest in my preferred cricket I’m sure he would have excelled at that as well. I very much appreciated having the opportunity to catch-up with Bill in the last couple of years. Considering his tussle with his health he was always addressing the positive and I, Keith and PJ Clarke so admired his humility and warmth. Your strength in supporting Bill would be unequalled. I would also like to pass on condolences from Alan Jones who played in the 1st XV with Bill in 69 and Graeme Thomson who excelled in cricket. Alan is overseas currently but lives in Devonport, Auckland. Graeme has lived in England for some time. We all started in 65 and left in 69 with Bill. I am coming down from Auckland for Bill’s farewell. Murray

Posted by Murray Galbraith on September 5, 2023

Hello Rowena and family — I first met Bill about 1965. He was a cheery, polite, teenager, maybe still going to school. I was established as a motor racing writer and photographer. Bill wanted to take photographs. He succeeded at it brilliantly. He moved on from taking motorsport photographs to being photographed as a highly competitive race and rally driver. But also, more importantly, he also succeeded at life and in being one of the nicest, warmest, most friendly and generous people I have ever met. His smile was like a camera flash going off. As we get older, most of us drift apart and so it was with Bill. In recent years I only saw him once, maybe twice a year — but always at the Skope meeting at Ruapuna. And the greeting was always the same — lovely and this despite his health issues and if those affected his mobility, you never knew. The world is a poorer place for the loss of Bill. But it was a much better place while he was with us. — Allan Dick

Posted by Allan Dick on September 3, 2023