the passing of a Mentor

ScottMP

I got home last night to find a note on the table. My mentor in all things mechanical had passed away.

Bill Burroughs was first a teacher in high school who turned into a friend and wound being a mentor in life. He had the independant spirit and love of life that I enjoy. He was thinking outside the box long before the box was built.

Bill was a mechanic with Pattens tank brigade in WWII. He became an engineer for GM. After working for years trying to change the way things are done he decide to make his life have some meaning and so became a teacher. Bills first day in the shop class was a tough one. The kids thought they could fool around every time he turned his back. The next day he came with a paper bag and said " so you guys think your smart". He pulled out a coat hanger arrangment with two motor cycle mirrors on either end, that way he could see behind him while at the black board. He had the kids in the palm of his hand ever since.

Bill was the teacher who would bring us to a factory and show us a machine and how it worked. We would be impressed untill he would lean over and say " Some guy thought this up all on his own, Used his head, wrote it down on paper and then made it work, He was thinking " It would blow us away.

Bill collected antique cars and bicycles. He would put them in the fourth of July parade. One year he brought us to his house to show us some solar stuff he was working on. While there my best friend and I saw these two old bikes and asked why they wer'nt in the parade. " Got nobody to ride them, why don't you two ride em ?". We've been riding them in the parade now for 28 years. This year will be one tough ride.

I know many of you have spoken of men who inspired you to think and act. Bill was the man who did that to me. His love of life and desire to question the status quo made me love to be with him. I will miss the days of the parade when he would ask " would you like a bracer ? " . That would mean a cold beer to share before the parade.

I could go on and on with stories but I guess I'll just say how saddend I am today. I will miss him greatly. And as he allways told me as we parted I will " Keep The Faith ".

You guys would have loved Bill Burroughs.

Scott

PS Sorry I should have better photo here at the shop.

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J.C.A.

So Sorry to hear,

Godspeed professor ! A lot of folks will be sad to hear the news.

hot_rod

Sorry

looks like he really enjoyed mechanical things. And life in general

hot rod

DanHolohan

He raised you well, Scott.

I see a lot of him in you. Thanks for sharing the memories with us.

Unknown

Very sad to hear

Not many are blessed to have been around a person like Bill . He sounded like the greatest of people .

ScottMP

HR

When we where in high school he had us build a small room of the back of the school. It had a pit under the foundation that was filled with rocks. We used cinder blocks for the foundation and Bill had us line up the blocks so the holes created channels. We then took hot air from the room ( that faced south ) and heated the rocks for storage.

In case your interested the bicycle that I am rideing in the photo is a 1929 English racing bike called a recliner. It was one of the first bikes with a derailer, three speed.

Thanks for the nice comments guys, as you can tell Chris knew him also and all the kids called him Professor.

Scott

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Richard Miller_2

sorry

sorry to hear that pal.

John Starcher_4

Sorry, Scott.....

...I feel your pain, as I lost my mentor last year.

He was my boss when I took my first job in the trades. Name was Jim Rice, and he was the most influential teacher I've ever known. The dude was like, 5'6" tall, and had a full head of hair, but kept it shaved to 1/4", so we called him "curly".

He was the toughest sonovagun I've ever known...and also the proudest. Whatever you did, he did it better, or at least that's what he led you to believe. And you gladly believed it, too, 'cuz you really wanted him to be Superman in your mind. Whenever I said the word "can't" to him, he would cock an eyebrow and look at me, and ask, "What did you just say?" I would repeat my statement that I "can't" get this pipe fitting broken apart, or I "can't" figure out why this furnace won't run, or I "can't" fix this (insert mechanical device name of your choice). He would keep repeating the question, "What did you just say?" until I would rephrase it to, "I'm having trouble figuring this thing out..."

The dude didn't believe in the word "can't" and he wouldn't let anyone who worked with him to believe in it either. He was truly an inspiration. Funny thing is, now when one of my employee coworkers says the word "can't", I find myself doing the same thing - cocking an eyebrow and asking them, "What did you just say?" ...followed by the statement that, "we don't use that word around here." And I always imagine that Jim is smiling down at me from that great stockroom in the sky.

Starch

John@Reliable_2

Scott,

Sorry to hear of your lost, but I think you were both lucky to call each other friend. I'm sure you two will share more stories someday!John@Reliable

ScottMP

Starch

Your paying it forward, and thats the greatest compliment you can pay him. He did his job and taught you well. People like that are like a second father, taking you under theri wing and with out saying it, leting you know they care.

My friends wife told me yesterday, I think he was happest when he was with you kids at the school. I know I was.

Scott

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Dave Palmer_3

sorry

to hear about your losse,I was lucky enough to have a teacher/friend like that in and out of school. If you were like me ,he was the only reason I went to school everyday and graduated.He taught us how to weld,run lathes, milling machines,even how to temper and harden tools.Most of all he taught us rag-tag bunch of boys how to be men.If one off us was out of line he would but us back in the classroom and read us the riot act.To be in his bad graces was worse than the trouble you were in.More than one kid got punched in the mouth by "his" kids for bad mouthing him. God bless these men and the others like them.Hopefully we always remember what they gave to us and we can give back to others. Sorry to say about 5 years after he retired the school sold off all the shop equipment to make a dance class room, ugh.

Alan R. Mercurio

Scott, I'm sorry for your loss. You, Bill and his family & Friends are in my prayers.


Respectfully Your friend in the industry,

Alan R. Mercurio

Mad Dog

Sorry, Scott

Lost a few my self recently.....hay! Now you are the mentor!!!!! Mad Dog

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DanHolohan

Remembering Bill.

Four years later.

Thanks, Scott.

Mad Dog_2

He's right beside you Scott

Mad Dog

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ScottMP

Thanks Dan

I saw this post and wondered why it had popped up agian. I should have known it would be from a friend

Bills obituary is in my desk, in the top draw. It reads " Bill considered educating young people one of the most rewarding experiences of his life ".

Help a young person !

Make a difference !

Have meaning !

Scott


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DanHolohan

A beautiful life

well lived. Thanks for sharing him with us.

ScottMP

Thanks Matt

Some you never forget huh ?

Always with you.

Scott

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Brad White

Unforgettable

Sorry for your loss, Scott-

Sounds like a gem of a guy, ahead of his time. I am glad for you that he imparted what he did. From your testimony, it is obvious you use his lessons every day.

How few indeed are the people who cross our lives and paths and who leave the gift of daily remembrance.

J.C.A._3

Brad,

How true ! Those people are few...and far between.When you do meet them...don't forget to tell them, or you'll feel really crappy when they're gone.

Godspeed Professor! May the road rise with you, and may the bicycles be... but 1, of your legacies!

Wow Scott ! 4 years??? Where is it going? Chris

(Thanks Dan!)

Ken_40

Hey,

Thanks for sharing that one.

Keep the faith.

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Keith_8

Keep the Faith

Sorry for your loss.

He seems like a great mam who led his life exactly how he wanted. The life he led was worth his weight in gold. Look at all the positive influence he was able to pass along for the next generation.

A man after my own heart. Live life with no regrets.

God Bless him and everyones life he touched.

Keith

Supply House Rick

Sorry Scott

For your loss, Please accept my condolences...

Rick

Larry Weingarten

Scott...

...When it hurts a little less and when you have time, I'm certain we'd all like to hear more of the stories you've got! Spread the joy a bit :~)

Yours, Larry

J.C.A._3

O.K.......

For reasons that are spontanious....I know Milne has some great fodder...

Scott...fill the board with some "Perfesorisms"..

I will attest to hearing most "second hand"...but will attest,also.... to them being the truth!

Bill was a GREAT guy...but we only butted heads once....and I caved quickly.(he knew too much!)

My favorite....." If you can't raise the bridge...lower the river"...What more could an engineer say? Truth is a hard thing to dispell.

Go for it Scott! Teach the unlearned what Bill did for you. Chris

Unknown

Sorry Scott,

I'm just picking up on this one. My sympathies on the loss of your friend. Lord knows we could use more mentors, not less.