Farewell, Uncle Bill

Bill and Lee Doyle, 1957

My uncle, Bill Doyle, passed away on Sunday, March 1.  He was a good and generous man and will be missed by many.

Uncle Bill and his family lived on a farm in Sandy Lake, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  He and my father, Lee, were half brothers.  Dad was born in 1913 to Gust and Beulah (Gerner) Doyle.  Several years after Beulah's death, Gust remarried.  Bill was born in 1926, thirteen years after Dad.  Their father, Gust, died in 1933 when Bill was only 7.

Uncle Bill had a hearty sense of humor and an easy laugh.  He was always ready to tease us kids.  Once when I was 7 or 8 we'd just finished a meal at his farm and were still sitting around the table.  He told me he could blow up his arm like a balloon.  I didn't believe him and told him so.  He promptly put the tip of his thumb to his lips and blew.  I was amazed to see his arm growing bigger and bigger until it was the size of a balloon.  How could I not believe when I saw it with my own eyes?!

I learned to drive a tractor on rural roads under his careful instruction.  Of course I probably sat on his lap and didn't have anything to do with the speed of the tractor.  He taught me about cows and milking and shooed me away when a cow was having a difficult birth.  I also learned about electric fences at his farm when I accidentally put my hand toward one of his pigs.  Ouch! 

I have happy memories of Uncle Bill.  I think he must have brought joy to everyone he met.  As we who loved him on earth say farewell, I think those who loved him here and are already there gave him a warm welcome on Sunday.  Good bye, Uncle Bill.

His obituary is available for viewing online at the Greenville, PA, Record Argus.

--Nancy.
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