Remember those old movies where the pages of a calendar fly away to indicate the passage of time? That's the image which came to my mind this week as I realized that it's been 30 years since Bill Sackter's death. Bill died at home on June 16, 1983. He was 70 years old.
Bill was dressed for work and sitting in his chair at his home on Yewell Street when he died. Mae Driscoll, owner of the home, found Bill that morning.
News of Bill's death spread quickly. Flags were lowered to half-mast. Outside the coffeeshop this sign was posted: "Sad news. Wild Bill died this morning of natural causes. It's a loss for which there are no words. However, if he were here he would have told you how nice you look and what a beautiful day it is."
Bill's death was big news, not only in Iowa, but around the country. An account of his life was on page one of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune the day after he died. His obituary was in the New York Times (www.nytimes.com/1983/06/17/obituaries/bill-sackter-a-retarded-man-portrayed-in-tv-movie-dies.html) Washington Post and many other newspapers, large and small, all over the US.
Here's an excerpt from a the story about Bill's death which appeared June 17, 1983 in the Philadelphia Inquirer: " 'Bill,' the mildly retarded coffee shop proprietor who inspired Mickey Rooney to win an Emmy for the portrayal of his life on television and brought tears and wistful smiles to the millions of Americans who saw that 1981 film, has died in Iowa City, Iowa. Bill Sackter, 70, was found dead yesterday in his small apartment of undisclosed but apparently natural causes."
Nearly 300 people came to Bill's funeral on. Among them was Jan Rooney, wife of Mickey Rooney, the actor who played Bill in both of the Bill movies. "It was the first funeral I ever attended where there was warm laughter and the mourners were clapping and swaying through their tears," wrote Bill Wundram in his column for the Quad City Times.
Barry Morrow, Bill's friend and the screenwriter for the Bill movies, came back to Iowa for the funeral. "God must have needed a harmonic player very badly," he said in his eulogy for Bill. "Goodbye buddy."
In the fine Midwestern tradition, mourners gathered for a lunch at Bill's Coffeeshop after the funeral. Columnist Wundram was among those who attended. Later, in his column, he noted the incongruity of sweet and sour pork being served after a Jewish funeral. Someone at the coffeeshop had noticed this and went out to get quiche. Alas, the quiche had ham in it, too.
Mourners who came to the Coffeeshop that day signed a big poster which reads "God bless you Bill." The poster was framed and hung on the wall in the coffeeshop for more than 25 years.
Here's a link to a story about the funeral ("Hundreds attend Bill's funeral") which was published in the June 20, 1983 issue of the Wilmington, NC, Star-News: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2scsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=phMEAAAAIBAJ&dq=bill%20sackter&pg=4253%2C1404560
Bill is buried in the local Jewish cemetery on Linder road at the far northeast side of Iowa City. Here's a link to a photo of Bill's gravestone: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18550089. Also, check out the many messages about Bill which have been left on this page. If you wish, you can leave a message, too.