Bill Jewell and I were good friends and fraternity brothers at the TKE house. I remember the motorcycle he bought at Sears that we all teased him about.
In 1967 Bill and I took our Field Term at the same time. He was a copy boy at the Washington Post in Washington, D.C. and I was a normal patient volunteer at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Bill had an apartment in Georgetown and we spent many memorable weekends together doing D.C.
During one vacation term Bill and I went to Mexico to go Yellowtail fishing on the Baja Peninsula. We drove his dad’s new 1967 Chevelle. His dad’s parting remarks were, “Whatever you do, don’t wreck the car”. Being thrifty, Bill decided not to spend the extra money to get Mexican car insurance. Bill had not driven much before coming to Beloit College because he lived in Italy where his dad worked with the US Navy. Luck was not with us and shortly after crossing into Mexico we were sideswiped by a truck on the Ensenada freeway. We were found partially at fault by the Mexican police because, as they reasoned, the accident wouldn’t have happened if we had not come to Mexico. We managed to drive the crumpled car back to San Diego where Bill’s parents lived. They were not happy.
Bill loved the ocean and worked as a commercial fisherman after graduation. Several years later his mother contacted me to let me know that Bill was lost at sea when the fishing boat he was working on sank during a storm in the North Pacific. Bill died doing what he loved to do.
Ralph Jahr (Jahr)
Bill Jewell and I were good friends and fraternity brothers at the TKE house. I remember the motorcycle he bought at Sears that we all teased him about.
In 1967 Bill and I took our Field Term at the same time. He was a copy boy at the Washington Post in Washington, D.C. and I was a normal patient volunteer at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Bill had an apartment in Georgetown and we spent many memorable weekends together doing D.C.
Bill loved the ocean and worked as a commercial fisherman after graduation. Several years later his mother contacted me to let me know that Bill was lost at sea when the fishing boat he was working on sank during a storm in the North Pacific. Bill died doing what he loved to do.
Rest in peace, Bill Jewell.
Ralph (Skip) Jahr – Class of ‘69