Over the past 10 years or so, I have been trying to locate Bill and Linda Gatewood and today, having searched again, I found an article by Kent Rasmussen about Bill. At first, I really couldn’t believe I had located the same person, but as I read on, it was definitely Bill and verified with photos. What a shock after these many years to learn of his death. It still doesn’t seem real to me. I am truly sorry for he and his family and Linda.

Readers might ask, why did I now renew efforts to locate Bill. Well, the other night I was watching a rather moving article on NBC Dateline about finding lost friends. Laying in bed that evening with my wife, she asked me “was there anyone I would like to find?” Bill and Linda Gatewood were the first people that came to mind as knowing them was a key experience in my life and Bill’s friendship had meant a great deal to me. I always regretted not staying in touch.

Kent’s article gave me a whole new insight into Bill. It is quite a revelation to read about someone in their earlier years when you only knew them as young adults. However, many of the qualities that Kent saw in Bill, were in a continuing stage of evolvement as a young adult. Both of us have a “snapshot” in time, and now I have the photograph of Bill as a young man to add to my mental photo of Bill as a young adult.

I knew Bill when he was a 2nd Lt in the Army living in Heidelberg and he worked with me in the battalion headquarters in Mannheim, Germany.  His wife Linda worked at a bank on post with my wife.  I spent most of my time once I met Bill and Linda with them on weekends and visited he and Linda, at least once that I can recall, after we returned to the states. 

I really didn't know much about his high school years, I only knew that part he wanted to share during our time together as Army guys.  I can tell you that he certainly impressed me with his love of life, his artistry and his free spirit. 

I remember the first time I really got to know him; I had given him a ride home from the battalion HQ back to Heidelberg.  The HQ was in Mannheim, so it was a commute of 30 minutes or so down the autobahn to get back.  As I recall, I hadn’t really met him before, but my wife had asked if I could give him a ride. I think Linda must have suggested it. The first thing he did as we started to drive off was take off his pants!  I was wondering “what the hell is he doing!”, but he had some shorts he wanted to put on, and he just couldn't wait to get out of uniform.  The tie came off and I believe his shoes also.  As I recall, shoes were not a big part of Bill’s outfit most of the time.

Bill was fairly irreverent towards Uncle Sam, but, at the same time, he did the job and did it without irreverence. He was a dedicated soldier, but on the other hand, I really wondered what the hell he was doing in the Army. I don’t recall how he got there in the first place, but he made the most of it. They both loved Germany as I recall and we had many a good time together.

We used to share the commute as some days he would drive.  He had a BMW 2002 that impressed the hell out of me.  I had little knowledge of BMW's at that time, but came to love that car and his intelligence in picking it.  That was another indication of how Bill didn't follow the pack.  Most of my friends went for the Mustang, new to the auto scene back then or the Camaro.  Bill went for the BMW. At first, I thought it was a really small, non-descript car, until I rode in it a few times. He really knew how to get the most of that car and really loved driving it.
After riding with him, I started to kick myself and tried to start learning from him. Bill always impressed me as someone in the “know” about what was going to be “in” or today, we would say he was on the “cutting edge”.

I learned a great deal about life by being a friend of Bills.  He changed some of my attitudes about what is important and what is not and certainly took away some of the stiffness in my emotions having been brought up in New England. I can recall one late evening conversation with him about the need to have nice furniture in your house to create a good impression. Of course Bill didn’t think that way at all and felt an orange crate would suffice and didn’t give a damn about impressing anyone. The more I got to thinking about the conversation I had to admit that he was right. He really helped me to see things in a different way, and that is why I valued his friendship. I think he challenged about everything I held dear at that time, and I needed it.

I really was impressed with Linda, also.  She was a free spirit and had a tremendous sense of humor. They were a beautiful couple.  I always felt they were the perfect California couple. Bill was very kind to Linda and a very warm guy. He was very outward in his expression of affection towards her and really supported her as a person. I think that says a lot about him as many of the men who grew up in the same era, were not as warm or supportive to others.

I remember another one of his creative streaks in how he cooked his breakfast. When visiting he and Linda in LA, he prepared omelets. At that time, the only omelet I had previously eaten was made with cheddar cheese, ham, onion or something like that. Bill took out cream cheese and jam of some kind and proceeded to make a very different omelet. It was great and again, I had to think about his mind and how it worked so differently from mine and others I knew. I do remember that he really liked food. I remember he introduced me to Marie Calendars that had just come on the scene. He really like that place at the time.

I am sorry to hear that he separated from Linda, but he was following his heart, and it was always in the right place, I believe.  I am certain it had a major impact on Linda, but I can’t visualize him being unkind about anything. I always thought he would go on to become one of the renowned artists of our time as the art I saw he had already created was so mature and just unbelievable to me.  He was a true talent. In fact, I really believed one day I would see he or his art on the cover of Time magazine.

I can understand Kent’s feelings about Bill and the impression he made on him, as I would bet he made on all of those fortunate enough to have know him.

Best Regards,
Charlie Peart
Marlton, NJ
856-596-2635