TRIBUTE TO BILL

One of the finest men I knew passed away last Sunday, so I thought I would pay a little tribute to him.  I'm sure that, in the scheme of things, every once in a while, a person comes along that is special.  Bill Huckstep was one of these people.


Bill & Maxine



Patty


I first became acquainted with him and his lovely wife when my wife's brother wedded his daughter, Patty.  The whole family attended the wedding held in the Logan Temple.  Bill drove up in a huge motor home, and I quickly found out that this one was not the first he owned, but it was the last of a long succession of these treasured vehicles.  Since that time, he had purchased even a bigger one, and it stayed with him until this day.

Bill's home was in sort of the industrial part of town, and it was a small one home originally, but over the years he added on sections to accommodate a growing family.  It was a "fun" house with a large kitchen with lots of well lighted bar space.  It seems to me that all of the cooking gadgets they had were large, and heavy duty restaurant types.  Large numbers of people were easily fed, I'm sure. 

Over the garage was a large play room with all kinds of gaming equipment, including pin ball, pool, table tennis, and Foosball.  This was a great place for the kids to entertain themselves while the adults made use of the kitchen area.  Our little kids, loved to go to the house because it was so much fun.

Now Bill had some land in the mountains.  On it he had build a "cabin," that seemed to me to be more of a lodge.  Behind it was a heated swimming pool with changing rooms for both the ladies and the men.  Close by was a home for the caretakers of the property, and on the other side of the "cabin," was a re-moleded barn, designed to entertain large gatherings.  Bill was especially proud of the spiral staircase, of which the steps were made out of cut pieces of pine wood.  Close by were several smaller, complete cabins that he had moved onto the property, for the purpose of housing families.  Each had a name, but the one that I remember the best was the "honeymoon cottage."

All of the household appliances in the cabin were commercial size.  I was told that Bill would accept trades for service, so he had a lot of things, and with his creative imagination and engineering skills, he could build almost anything.

Our kids, loved to ride the motorbikes, and Bev and I loved to take off on the 3 wheelers.  Patty's husband, Stacy, really loved to ride the 3 wheelers.  He actually had designed a riding course, in front of the cabin, on which he could practice his riding skills.  He showed me how to do several basic maneuvers on this course.

Bill was a very generous person.  He was Branch President at the time, and he would let not only youth groups from his church, but also boy scout troops use his mountain property.

The last time I saw Bill was at their home.  We were served ice cream.  Bill loved this delicious treat, and later on that evening, he visited Stacy and Patty's house and gave me a couple of his miniature auto creations, which I took home and finished with varnish.  They are now proudly on display above my computer desk.

Bill had a quick wit, and was a master at one liners.  He loved good humor, and among his qualities were friendliness and kindness.  He would do anything for anybody if he could.  It seemed to me that he could help anyone solve any type of problem.  Like I mentioned at the beginning,  every once in a while, a person comes along that is special. Bill was one of these people.



Stacy



Jennette

Nathan



Chris

Jerom



Stacia



Bev & Larry



Me & Whitney