My Tribute to Grandpa Bill

Yesterday I learned that my Grandpa Bill has died and gone to Heaven. He was the adopted grandfather of my heart and I will miss him greatly. He lived on Orcas Island in Washington state and many are my memories of him and his beloved island. This is my tribute to him.


How do you say goodbye to someone you dearly love? Maybe by remembering the things that made that person so special…by taking those things into your heart and letting them change you.

Grandpa Bill was special for so many reasons. He loved his wife, Dorothy, faithfully and tenderly for many years. After she died, he longed to see her again in Heaven. He spoke of his favorite memories of her each time we visited…of their courtship, of her wonderful sense of humor, of her love for God. Grandpa Bill showed me what it meant to love someone daily, moment by moment, for a lifetime. He showed me what it meant to honor someone above yourself. I pray that I will love my own husband as truly as Grandpa Bill loved Grandma Dorothy.

Grandpa Bill treasured each person in his life in real and tangible ways. He remembered their birthdays. He phoned them. He drove miles across the continent to visit them. And he did all of those things for me, too. He came to my wedding and stood in as my grandfather, since my own grandfather had died some years before. He rejoiced at the news of each child born to me and my husband, and came to visit them. I was his “Canadian granddaughter” and they were his “Canadian great-grandchildren.” Our youngest child, Isaac, was born the same month that Grandpa Bill turned 90 years old.Isaac attended Grandpa Bill’s 90th birthday party as a newborn baby. Now a 2 year-old, Isaac sees Grandpa Bill’s picture on our refrigerator and talks about “Papa Dill”.

I watched the way Grandpa Bill cared for each person in his life, and I realized what a beautiful thing faithfulness is in a friendship. It can be enough to make someone feel like family. He once said to me, “Sometimes you just need to be there for someone.” Grandpa Bill was always there. He always had time. He always cared.

Grandpa Bill was very special. Thank you, Montgomerys, for sharing him with us. We love him deeply and will remember him forever.