Thursday, April 03, 2008

A Life Well Lived

This week I journeyed to Alberta to say goodbye to my Uncle Bill. It was a bittersweet reunion between me and my cousins who I adore. What an awful way to ensure a family get together. However, there was laughter through the tears... of times remembered, of a man so loved, of a cottage full of family, of summers spent together.

In a fitting tribute to my Uncle, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic sent a private jet full of their management to say goodbye. It was a very classy thing to do. We sang songs and told stories that made us weep. The pastor told us of my Uncle asking to hear about the Lord on Good Friday and how he accepted him into his heart. That filled my heart with gladness. The pastor talked about a life well lived and it is this statement that I clung too. For it was definitely a life well lived, and there were several hundred people there, including the mayor, the gentelmen from the Chrysler Classic and several dignitaries, and of course, so many family members that attested to it.

William (Bill) Goldsworthy

GOLDSWORTHY William Leroy Bill" Goldy" It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Bill Goldsworthy on Saturday, March 22, 2008 at the age of 66.

Goldy was the epitome of a Golf Professional. He spent over 50 years in the golf industry, at the Jasper Park Lodge, Point Grey G&CC, Head Pro (in 1965 the youngest in Canada) at Cedar Hill Golf Club, then Gallagher's Canyon, Kelowna. Pro-Manager Hinton, Camrose and Lake Point Golf Clubs respectively. During his Cedar Hill days he proudly started PGA Tour player Jim Rutledge and Asian Tour player Rick Gibson off on their careers. As Co-Chair of the marshals, Bill dedicated 25 years of service to the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. An ambassador to the game of golf, Bill was a lifetime member of the CPGA and served on the board of directors of the APGA. His favourite spot to be was at the cottage at Lake Edith, fishing and drinking Blue!

I've taken out the names of the family members that Uncle Bill left behind to protect both their privacy and ours (and yes I know, but I'm not going to make it easier). Sufficed to say there are many loving members of his family, who will go on to remember him.

A life well lived... A man well loved.

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