William Pepel Obituary

I had the privilege of being best friends with Bill for the past 26 years. To say he was one of a kind would be the understatement of the century. Anybody who knew him knew there was no one else even remotely like him. His interests, his way of expressing himself, his sense of drama, his comic sense, his talents were completely unique. Bill liked to have fun and he enjoyed people. He enjoyed meeting new people and he enjoyed old friends. Whether he was booking customers for Amtrak while regaling them with a funny story, smoozing with members of the CGMC chorus, a group that gave him the opportunity to show off his fine voice, acting in the several plays he wrote - Bottomless Glass Menagerie, Dragulina , parading around in an utterly outrageous costume he had thought up for Halloween, Pride, or some special event, or enjoying a gathering of friends or family, he was definitely someone who never met a stranger. I could be in the worst possible mood and within minutes after being around Bill I would be laughing, happy and cheerful. He just had that effect on me and other people. He could laugh at himself and make us laugh at ourselves as well. He was also very generous. He rewarded our friendship with surprise trips to both New Orleans and San Francisco, just because we were pals. He never went on a trip that he didn't come back loaded with presents for friends and family. He would treat friends to dinner, or buy rounds of beer for bar buddies the whole evening long. He was truly someone who would give you the shirt off his back. One time he gave me a gem to help me with my love life, another time one for prosperity, and yet another one for wisdom. He would give me books on subjects he thought would be helpful to me. He served as a new age guide for me and countless others, discovering techniques, practices, subjects and places that helped us grow spiritually. Bill was a very spiritual person. Spirituality permeated everything he did. It was his main focus. He never did anything without considering the spiritual consequences to himself and others. But he was always lighthearted, even comical about it. And he served as a source of inspiration for other things as well. It was with Bill that I founded the NewTown Writers. We worked on plays together. We created costumes together. We created, in his words, "scenarios." In addition to everything else, he was very loyal, as well as dependable. I could count on him when I needed to talk to someone, I could count on meeting him every single week as Sidetrack, I could count on him to get our tickets to the latest chorus performance. He never swerved in his loyalty to me or to his other friends, even when we might given him reason to do so, or even when his friends were not getting along among themselves. He served as peacemaker, and on occasion as a matchmaker. He also, as mentioned, had a number of talents. He was an excellent cook. He had a fine voice. He could discuss the finer points of horse racing . He was a hard worker. He was an excellent salesman. He made Amtrak millions of dollars. He could talk anyone into just about anything. He is someone one could never forget. I will miss him greatly and consider myself extremely fortunate to have known him and to have had him as a friend for over a quarter of a century.

Bill left us too soon. We will never forget his hilarious skits for CGMC concerts and his generally outspoken presence. A truly kind, good spirit.

We will always remember your total honesty, your laughter, the way you could tell a funny story (most autobiographical) better than anyone else. We'll never forget Connie Francis playing accordion at the CGMC concert back when we all were so much younger.

Bill was one of a kind; indeed "descended from angels," as he often told us. We will miss him, his kindnes, generosity, sense of fun and his kinetic energy. His search for truth was a never-ending fascination for him.

Will miss your complexities.

So long, Poppy...I'll miss singing with you!