18 files added to the album Bill Egbert Photo memories

Each of us has the opportunity to define ourselves...it's not an easy thing to do....it takes courage to step back, look ourselves over, and say "OK...this is what's important in life, this is what I should do, and this is how I have chosen to live and this is what I am....

   As a young man, Dad defined himself as a good son. He saw his mother walking to work to the Wonder Bread factory, in cold and rain and snow, making a few dollars to keep together hearth and home. She was the strongest influence in his early life and while she died young at 52, her influence was lifelong. He believed the best he could do was educate himself. His family could not afford to send him to Catholic High School, but somehow he screwed up the courage to knock on the door of a rectory, asked to see the pastor of the parish, and talked his way into a scholarship to Holy Rosary. I imagine that after that experience, taking on and defeating Nazi armies in Europe was a piece of cake.

   Dad had a difficult task ahead...he knew he wanted to be a good husband and father but where could he find a woman that could possibly meet or exceed the standards of courage and intelligence and loyalty set by his mother?  As it turned out, he had to go about 600 miles east of Columbus to Brooklyn, NY. He found Trudy Tobin, got all the virtues of his mother, and, let's not kid ourselves, her jaw-dropping beauty didn't hurt any. He always considered himself lucky to have found her...and he was right about that! Theirs was a partnership that lasted nearly 65 years. 

   Dad was one of those quiet patriots that didn't thump his chest and brag about imagined glories of war....he saw things simply...that his country was attacked that December in 1941 and knew he would go and do his part. In the basement of their condo on a wall is a copy of a certificate given to Dad that was signed by the Burgermeister of Antwerp, Belgium that simply says "to T Sgt WC Egbert of the 352nd Harborcraft Division, US Army, thanks for undergoing 256 consecutive days of  aerial  bombardment.  To the citizens of Antwerp, Belgium....Dad says "You're Welcome."
Less than 4 yrs after returning from Europe, war broke out on the Korean Peninsula and Dad again wanted to do his part. This time he joined the Marine Corps and within
a few months he was again in uniform and again in a strange land. During the winter
of 1950, 2 months after I was born, Dad's regiment was involved in a horrible battle at the Choisin Reservoir in Korea--it was weeks of sleeping outdoors in the dead of winter while surrounded by hostile forces. I asked him what it was like. In typical fashion Dad just said it was real cold, I made it out, lots of guys didn't, that was it. 

   Back home, the next 60 years were good ones for Dad....a wife he loved, children and eventually grandchildren that brought him pleasure, lots of friends during his years at Columbia Gas. Winters in Florida at the home of truly great people--Mom's sister and her husband, Aunt Alice and Uncle Charlie. Dad was blessed with good health for most of those years...in 1990 he suffered a serious heart attack while in Florida, had a quadruple bypass, and recovered fully...it didn't seem to slow him down that much for the next 20 yrs. 

   If you had the pleasure of knowing Dad...you know his virtues...his sense of humor...his love of his family and friends, his love of country and his beloved Marine Corps...his gratitude for anything nice anyone ever did for him...his compassion for others and his ability to listen well and care about what others cared about. He had a good run....a great run....90 years and 5 months....he was here a long time and the world was better for his presence.

Bill Egbert

96 files added to the album Bill Egbert Photo memories

Dad was a man of duty-work, family, armed services-quiet but strong fulfilling his duties to the best of his ability in the manner his mother taught him-he had strong ideas of how things should be but showed through his actions that each person should be allowed to make up their own minds on how they interact with the world.

Mrs. Egbert,
My condolences to you and your family at this most difficult time.  My thoughts and prayers are with you and your lovely family.  
Cathleen Clarke
Schoedinger North Chapel

OBITUARIO

W.C. "Bill" Egbert

27 junio, 1921 – 25 noviembre, 2011

Schoedinger Midtown

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