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On Wednesday, March 3rd, Karen Cantu wrote us:
Dear Family and Friends,
Bill Bass passed away at home Tuesday evening, March 2, 2004. Bill was a member of the San Francisco Region and served as Chief of Emergency for many years.
No services have been arranged at this time.
Bill Bass was my best friend! He was Chief of Emergency Control when I first got started in SCCA. He was concerned about me getting hurt for the first 6-8 months.
I had been working on the back of the tow trucks off and on dragging cars off the track too, by that time. So when he saw that I wouldn't fall off, he told everyone it was OK for me to be on the back of the crash trucks, just like all the rest of the guys. I loved him for that!
Being a female, I was used to being written off by men. I spent countless hours hanging with Bill in one or the other crash trucks driving up to SPIR or down to Laguna for a weekend of volunteer work. We did at least 4 trips to So. CA with trucks and some of the crew too. He was the kind of guy you could be comfortable with without saying a word for hours, just knowing that if we had something to say, we would. Most of those trips were spent with one or the other of us asleep for at least half the trip.
We usually met up with some of the other early risers for breakfast before heading to what ever track it was. I spent the night in sleeping bags on the floor of rooms with Bill and Howard Curtis a few times, as well as many times with the Lee clan.
Bill and Howard were both so great to have as friends!
He is missed!
Sincerely and sadly,
-- Robin Bloomgarden
PS, If anyone knows how I can find Howard Curtis, please let me know, soon., as I will be moving out of this country this fall. Anyone else who might want to contact me is welcome to do so. I miss the old gang.
Robin Bloomgarden
503-281-1441
PO Box 3991
Portland, Oregon, 97208
I check in to the SCCA Web site now and then to check on my old friends and was stopped dead in my tracks when I read of Bill
Bass's passing.
He always saw to it that the radios and head sets were ready for the pit crews and the Paddock.
He was a kind of a guy who didn't like ineptitude from anyone and he said so. His honesty was refreshing at the track and he has
surely left a large hole in the staffing of events by his untimely departure.
God be with you friend,
Dave & Sharon Selvy
Memories of Bill from Lucky and Kathy Graham – March 2004
For Lucky and I, losing Bill is like losing an uncle. Lucky started working for Bill on the Emergency crew when he was 18 – in 1979. Bill was a quiet man, but he always made sure that what needed to happen did. He provided the strong basis for the Emergency crew that we have today. Under Bill’s leadership, the Jaws of Life were introduced as was the annual tradition of “cutting the car apart”. He made sure that we all had the opportunity to try. There are more memories than I can share in an e-mail.
I remember the morning Bill and Hal Cope started Sunday morning with a little drag race at Sears Point. Bill won.
I remember Bill running into Social one evening calling for all of us so we could respond to a spectator accident out the back of Laguna. Our crew under his direction provided the Jaws and assistance for an accident that injured three spectators.
And I remember him dancing at our wedding with Doris.
As Marcia explained to me once, there is a big racetrack in the sky that we will all ultimately go to. I believe it’s just found it’s new Chief of Emergency. God Speed Bill.
Lucky and Kathy Graham
Email the webteam to pass along your memories of Bill. We'll do our best to get it to his immediate family. If you'd like it posted on this page, then tell us that too.
