William Harold Jacobs

I am very sad right now, sad enough that I am writing this while crying. Yesterday I learned that a member of The Washington DC Unit passed on. Normally I do not blink an eye when someone dies. Death is part of life, why be saddened by it. Unfortunately this time around I am deeply affected. Bill was a big guy with a heart the size of the Appalachian mountain range. He was at every WDCU rally and very active in the Airstream community. He exhibited an unusual kindness to all the children, treating them as his own Grand children. This is actually a practice of all the unit members at the Grandparent stag of life, but Bill took it to another level. The freezer in his rig was too small to hold all the ice creams he would bring for the kids so he replaced his refrigerator with one that had a bigger freezer. Bill also put out huge bowls of M&M's and kept them full so the kids and adults could "get sugared up". He was always there, often with his brother Tom. Bill will be missed by many for years to come. I went back through my photos looking for pictures of Bill. Six months ago my hard drive crashed and all my photos were lost. I was only able to find three.

Bill can barely be made out in this photo taken at the Beachcomber Luau Rally. He is in the back row, toward the left, between Jerry and Peter. You can see his silver hair and horned rimmed glasses. Bill was never in the front. He was always there thought, participating in what ever was going on.

In this photo taken at our Installation Rally you see Bill's white pickup still hooked up to his rig. Bill had the honor of being the furthest tow at this rally. A clear sign of his dedication to the unit and the club as a whole. I believe he drove 485 miles to be there. Sorry folks this is very hard for me....

This picture is also at the Installation Rally. Bill loved to sit by the camp fire. Talking about anything under the sun, moon , and stars. There was very little he did not know about. When he spoke he said a lot with very few words. I think somehow it is fitting that this photo is in sepia. I think it is also fitting that Bill has his back to us.
Bill I will miss you. Godspeed.