Only Online: In Memoriam
James William (Bill) Whedbee, Ph.D.

Nancy B. Lyon Professor of Biblical Studies
September 24, 1938-January 22, 2004

From Ryan Takeshita '04

During the past four years, I feel proud to say that I have been a part of the family which is our varsity mens' soccer program. While it's easy now to look back on the seasons and recall the faces of my teammates, past and present, the unique part of being a family is the opportunity to get in touch with the roots that have held the family together, generation after generation.

Bill Whedbee was an essential deep root who has kept our family grounded for much longer than I alone can recount to you.

Prof. Whedbee was not just a fan of our soccer team -- he had his own, personal chair at the beginning of our bench, closest to the center line, home or away. Before you checked into the game, he was the last person to shake your hand and wish you good luck, and when you returned to the bench during or after the game, he was the first person to pat you on the back and congratulate you. Generations of soccer players can describe to you how upon coming off the field: winner or loser, healthy or broken, excited or disappointed, when you looked up into Prof. Whedbee's reassuring eyes and he clapped you on the back, you were reminded not only how unimportant the trite aspects of both soccer and life are, but more importantly, just how much meaning the experience of being on the field and just how much meaning the experience of everyday life can actually contain, even as subtle as those meaningful moments may be.

Two or three years ago, during his annual address to the team at our end of the year banquet, Prof. Whedbee focused his speech around six words which have lingered in my mind since. With the same eloquent and compassionate demeanor with which he lectured to his classes, he half-spoke/half-sung these words:

Time & Chance       Gift & Passion       Courage & Love

I don’t know if it was the stark simplicity or the amazing depth of what he had said, but the force of these words touched me as he repeated them.

Time & Chance       Gift & Passion       Courage & Love

I remember thinking: "How did this man, with such ease, and such clairvoyance, just sum up what life itself should be all about?"

Time & Chance       Gift & Passion       Courage & Love

Looking back on it now, I guess what impresses me most about the words which Prof. Whedbee spoke on that banquet night isn't just that they express fitting ideas about the manner in which each of us should live our lives. Rather, what strikes me most is that this man, for all of us in this room, clearly embodied these very ideals, most especially those contained in the poignant final four words. It will be these blessings which Prof. Whedbee brought to our lives, that will continue on, rooted and woven deeply into each of the lives which he touched.

Time & Chance       Gift & Passion       Courage & Love