PDA

View Full Version : BIL died, avid AT hiker



weasel 2
01-29-2005, 09:50
Dear all,

My BIL found life unbearable and ended his life violently Wednesday. We found out Friday. While the family is struggling with what to do, the topic of a memorial service and donations came up. I, the lone hiker in the pack, suggested a local nature center for the memorial service (he had no religious affiliation) and the AT for a memorial fund. Oddly enough I am unable to recall his trail name today. Bill or Billy was from Memphis, TN and hiked sections of the AT the entire 17 years I knew him. His estranged wife/widow is agreeable to some of his hiking buddied hiking his favorite section and scattering his ashes. I asked her to bring his hiking boots to the memorial service.

Weasel 2
Memphis, TN

Jack Tarlin
01-29-2005, 13:09
I am very sorry for your loss.

The idea to have an A.T. related memorial fund is a thoughtful and beautiful one. The Appalachian Trail Conference, based in Harpers Ferry, WV, (see www.atconf.org) is always in need of contributions for their work, and they're always happy to receive memorial gifts in any ammount; they'll also publish an announcement of this gift in their magazine, the Appalachian Trailway News. Also, the local hiking club, The Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club, which maintains and cares for the Trail in this area, is another excellent possibility.

And the plan to have Bill's ashes scattered in a place he loved is also a really nice idea; many hikers in the past have done this, and many others, including myself, have arranged to have this donefor them; I also have thought that the Tennessee/North Carolina border is a perfect location for this. I think there's a great possibility that this is what Bill would have wanted.

Please accept our condolences for your family's loss, and if you can discover Bill's Trail name, please let us know.