Remembering Bill

Celebration of the Life of William Whelen Biddle in Seattle, July 21, 2012

Friends and family gathered on July 21 2012 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral on Capitol Hill in Seattle on July 21, day of bright sunshine to celebrate the life of Bill Biddle. Decorations included ice axe, snowshoes, cross country skis among other evidence of Bill’s love for the outdoors. Speakers including son Peter Biddle, Mary Kelly Persyn, friend and former UW Professor of English, whose courses Bill audited (he’d audit at leat one course per semester, usually linked to poetry), Alexander Caskey (former student and Nobles Outing Club member at Nobles), and Barbara Buchan Biddle, Bill’s widow. Nobles graduate Sidney Eaton Jr. and wife drove from Portand to attend the ceremony. Also present was Inez Black, widow of David Black, former Nobles teacher, climber, and long time friend of Bill’s and Barbara’s. Bill’s children, Bob, Ed, Peter & Ellie brought their families from Annapolis, Katonah,NY, Seattle, and Ithaca NY. The reception brought together a delightfully eclectic group of neighbors, intellectuals and booksellers, former participants in the canoe trips to Lake Ozette on the Olympic Peninsula, cross country skiers who had learned how to ski from Bill’s classes at Snoqualmie Pass, Haverford classmates, and many Biddles from the next generations.

Remarks by Alexander Caskey, Nobles ’64, at Bill’s Celebration of Life in Seattle on July 21, 2012 [Link: Click here]

Remarks by Mary Kelly Persyn at Bill’s Celebration of Life in Seattle on July 21, 2012 [Link: Click here]

What we will remember: Memories of William Biddle: A video by Jenny Taylor. Family and friend describe their memories of Bill at the time of the celebration of Bill’s life, July 21, 2012. [Video: Click here]

Obituary and tributes to Bill, July 21, 2012. [Link: Click here]

Tribute by Dick Wagner in Shavings, the newsletter of the Center for Wooden Boats (CWB), Fall, 2012 . [Link: Click here]

Celebration of the Life of William Whelen Biddle in New Hampshire, May 13-14, 2013: The East Coast Bill Biddle memorial celebrations took place from May 12 to 14 of this year. Part one was set in Franconia NH with a celebration of Bill’s 83rd birthday, the conclusion took place at the Dartmouth Outing Club’s Ravine Lodge at the foot of Mount Moosilauke, where a memorial service was offered. As Paul Foss (Nobles 1962) so aptly put it, it was a time both of celebration and of healing, and of reunion of many friends who hadn’t seen each other for years, as well as an opportunity for friends of Bill’s to become friends of each other.

The gathering began unofficially with the arrival of Barbara Biddle, Peter Ward, and Alexander Caskey, Barbara Noyes (Bill’s first wife), and daughter Ellie Biddle in Franconia. We were soon joined by our hosts Paul and Karen Foss for dinner at the Dutch Treat restaurant which established the tone of conviviality which kept gaining in momentum as preparations for the birthday party moved forward at the home of Paul and Karen’s home. All pitched into provide food, drink, and hors d’ouevres while a slide show of Bill’s life was displayed continuously on a TV. The house was soon packed with Bill’s Dartmouth classmates, the Biddle clan including brothers David and Craig, Craig’s daughter, Laura and sons Bob and Ed with several of their young in tow. It was a spontaneous and joyful occasion with fine food, poetry recitals, impromptu singing, including a very robust Happy Birthday sung by all, complete with toasts of the finest bourbon whiskey on the planet, lovingly air-freighted from Bill’s collection in Seattle by wife Barbara. Old friends from Dartmouth, Nobles, and Holderness re-connected and firmed up old friendships; new friendships were made.

The following day, in brilliant sunshine, stiff breeze, and perfect visibility, over 40 of us convened at the Ravine Lodge for a lovingly conducted farewell service. Presiding at the ceremony were clergypersons Craig Biddle (Bill’s brother), Craig’s daughter Laura, and George Wells, former Nobles teacher who left the school to become an Episcopal priest. Sons Bob and Ed spoke movingly of their father and all had a chance to participate in the ceremonial spreading of ashes. It was a poignant and moving celebration that will long be remembered.

The ceremony moved indoors, where we shared lunch, continued to speak of Bill and his legacy, and said our farewells.

Attendees from Nobles included Peter Ward ’61, Ted Blatchford ’62, Ken Reiber ’62, Paul Foss ’62, Art Watson ’64, Alexander Caskey ’64, Matthew Schmid ’65, Steve Fisher ’65, Charles Daloz ’65, Jim Summers ’65, and former Nobles faculty George Wells and wife Annie.

Bill’s Birthday Celebration: A slide show of Bill’s life compiled for the occasion at Paul Foss’s home in Franconia, NH, May 13, 2013. [Pdf: Click here]

Spreading Bill’s Ashes: A video by David Biddle. On May 14, 2013, 50 friends and family gathered at the base of Mt. Mouselauke to celebrate Bill’s life by spreading his ashes. [Video: Click here]

Spreading Bill’s Ashes: May 14, 2013. A slide show by Peter Ward [Pdf: Click here].

Tribute by George Hibben, Bill’s Dartmouth classmate, in the Dartmouth Alumni Bulletin, written about the Moosilauke event: Sandy Saunders [Bill’s Dartmouth roommate] and I were astonished that, other than Bill’s family and almost to a person, the celebrants were peer teachers and students from the days of his prep school teaching at Noble & Greenough and Holderness. There were men and women greatly influenced by his teaching and leadership. Bill had become the intellectual and spiritual leader of their lives. They had sought as best they could to be like him. They were heard reading and quoting from memory poetry Bill had introduced to them — Keats, Shakespeare, and Frost. Others remembered and compared technical climbs and winter camping, experiences they first experienced with Bill. They all expressed the intensity, enthusiasm, and inexhaustible energy Bill possessed. It was almost as if those characteristics had been cloned from Bill. For us, this was a most memorable awakening.