In Memoriam: Bill Weiss, A Great Man And Friend

A sad news.
My support and condolences to his family.

Jorge

What a loss to our hobby and to all of us who have learned from Bill. Can't imagine how difficult it was for him after his wife passed, and how alone he must have felt without her in these difficult few months.
Very, very sorry.
Ray

My condolences to his friends and family. The philatelic community has lost a friend and a great resource.

Dan

Bill had mentioned to me that he was having some serious health issues, but he did not elaborate and I did not push. It sounded serious, but I did not know until today just how serious it was. Our acquaintance goes back to the late 70s and early 80s when he was doing auctions and actively researching his 15c BankNote Stamp. I got quite a few of my first essays from Bill back then, and we spoke often on the phone.

I did not know that his wife and business partner of well over 40 years, Addie, had passed away at the end of August. To lose her when he was already in fragile condition must have been positively devastating. Now his own light has gone out, and I am glad I had the chance down through the years to see him shine. May they both rest in God's peace, as they knew it in life.

A true gentleman who will be greatly missed.

Bill touched so many people here, and elsewhere.

Don, thank you for sharing this sad news.

John

p.s. Bill also had an interest in censored covers, which is how our
paths crossed...

My sincere condolences to his family. His absence from the forum was missed by all.

The kind words are tremendous, I am sure Bill would have appreciated them all. It was not clear to me why Bill did not want to go public with his loss and illness; I felt he would benefit from this kind of great support from the community. We actually fussed at each other over this issue, especially when in another forum a thread was started that questioned his ethics and called him a thief for listing some used but uncancelled postage on ebay. The folks there didn't know but Bill was simply trying to disposition 'all things stamps' so his family would not be burdened. The effect was similar to kicking a man when he was down but Bill still did not want me to let anyone know of his situation. But a good lesson here is that 'real life' should always trump philatelic drama. Even if Bill occasionally crossed emotional swords with a few folks, his heart was always with what he felt was best for others and philately.

Bill was a mentor to me and was always willing to share his extensive knowledge and experience. He was determined to 'give back' to the hobby he loved and was concerned with the need to attract new hobbyists. Bill and I also discussed the need to preserve the content and articles on his web site; I will integrate Bill's articles with Stamp Smarter and the 1847usa web site so it will remain freely available to all moving forward. Lori (Bill's daughter) has told me that Bill was the business and that the family has no plans to move it forward. I think that Bill managed to disposition his reference materials but am unsure of what might happen to the years worth of hard copy certification records he had. This is a tremendous body of work and one that should not be lost to our hobby, I am looking into what it might take to get this material donated for archiving.

Thank you again to everyone for their thoughts, this community has once again proven its unequally compassion and friendliness. I will make sure that Bill's family is aware of this kind outpouring.
Best Regards,
Don

My interactions with Bill must go back 30 years, maybe longer. He was influential in me becoming a full-time stamp dealer (1997) and always quick to offer encouragement (whether related to philately or not.) He shared his knowledge with others - at shows, or seminars, or in forums, or just about ANYWHERE. His tireless work to "clean up ebay," despite the impossible odds of ever accomplishing that goal, are known by many and demonstrate his tremendous desire to help those out who weren't knowledgeable enough to help themselves.

But most importantly, Bill was a friend. We disagreed at times (including some of his certificates/opinions, LOL!) but those disagreements generally led to worthwhile discussions (even when we ended up "agreeing to disagree.") The next time we saw each other, there would always be a handshake and smile.

As I sit here and reflect, it's often the "non-philatelic" memories, like his immense frustration with the computer problems on that piece of junk he insisted on using for so many years, or our verbal jousting about who could hit a 9-iron farther, that put the biggest smiles on my face. Bill, you will be missed! Rest in peace.

As a returnee, I hardly knew the man, but ...




... SCF did well as "a place where Bill Weiss posted".

A great loss. I will miss him around the forum, he was full of so much wonderful knowledge. My Prayers and condolences to his family.


-IBFS

While we never met, I can recall with enthusiasm the times we communicated on the old VSC. It is especially sad that he lost his wife only 2 months before he passed. I can attest from personal experience to the extreme pain of losing one's lifelong companion. That alone can crush a person's spirit. To be battling cancer at the same time would seem insuperable. Bill, you will most certainly be missed.
... John L. ...

I was sad to hear this news. Though I never had met him, I was certainly familiar with his books.

My condolences to his family as I am sure he will be missed.

Chimo

Bujutsu

My best to Bill, his late wife and his family. He will be missed!

I'm so sorry to hear of Bill's passing. I had never met the man but in my short time here I know he has a stellar reputation and his passing will be a loss to our community. Thanks Don for all you do.

So sad - I enjoyed, and learned much from, Bill's contributions here.

Don - as always, what you say betokens your own courage, generosity of spirit and humour. Thank you.

Geoff