The day we are born and the day that we die might be important to some, but clearly what we do in between is what really matters. I wish to share just some of the things that our friend Bill Tompkins did between those two days in his life, before recently passing away.
Bill came into our lives one day in the early 1980s. Willie, Bill’s son, was working at the newspaper and Willie decided to work somewhere else and then upon us we inherited Bill Tompkins.
Before too long, Bill became our friend and our conscience.
Bill would open up our office every morning, after which point he would turn on the air conditioners, take a look around, and then just sit down at the from desk and to read The Miami Herald, cover to cover. He read the local news, the letters to the editor and the sports section. He would frequently share the stories with us and did lots of bantering about local politics, which became a sport of sorts, which we both loved to play – and of course, he enjoyed talking sports with my brother Grant.
He’d be at the front desk to greet folks with a big smile as they came into work, and assigning each one of them their own special nickname. He loved being the greeter, the man with the big smile and heart of gold.
Each morning, as soon as the receptionist punched in for duty, Bill would gather up the pages of his Herald, along with a copy of the South Miami News, and he’d be on his way. Several hours later, the fun would start up again when he returned at 5 p.m. to lock up for the day.
One of his favorite things to do in the evening upon reclaiming his post at the front desk, was to wait for people to leave for the day, so he could toss them bag of popcorn or a small package of crackers, which he fondly called “Nabs.” He really loved doing that and it taught us lots of lessons – even to those who declined his treats.
Bill made us laugh and he made us smile, but today we cry and mourn the loss of our friend, Bill Tompkins. Godspeed Bill and as you told me so many times over so many years, “Ta Ta.”
Bill Tompkins, the family man
Bill and his wife Linda raised three children, Jonathon, Willie, and Nora, who died a few years ago. He also had three grandchildren, each of whom the Community Newspapers family watched grow up.
Bill, with his convincing personality, heaped so much love, support, and direction upon those grandkids. They were everything to him. And he gave them all the tools he could to ensure they became successful. In fact, the eldest grandson, Freddie “Buck” Frazier, 27, was the first in the Tompkins family to graduate from college, Bethany College in Kansas.
Another of Bill’s grandsons, Ernest Kirkland is currently a ninth-grader in middle school. He would drop by the news office most days, especially during the school year, so we would see him often. And then there’s 20-year-old Kelvin Tompkins currently playing basketball for Davis College in New York. And their sister, Joniqua Tompkins, 23, who lives in Central Florida, and she is doing just fine.
These kids know they were loved and know that “Bill,” as they called him, cared for them so very much.
Wife Linda Tompkins shares
“Bill was born September 9 of 1944 in South Miami. And we’ve been together for 53 years. He was my partner for life.”
“He was so caring, and he protected me. Bill always protected me. I was very young when we met and he was just 19, but I trusted him a lot… and there was no one who could interfere with our relationship.”
“Oh my, yes, he was always teasing with everybody… He joked with everyone and was just so friendly with everyone – and he wasn’t really ever angry.”
“Back then, whenever we went out, wherever we went, he would always walk me home. My grandma, she told him once, ‘Linda’s a young girl. Now I tell you what, whenever I don’t see her, I expect her to be with you, Bill.’ And I was. I always was.”
“He’d come sit on my porch and talk with me and grandma for a long time. He was my everything.”
“These first days without him have been very hard. My daughter’s youngest boy, Bubba, he’s 14, he didn’t take it too good. None of us did. But they’re all trying to keep me in spirits… It’s not going be the same…”
“Bill had such a big heart. He sure loved kids and they all called him ‘Coach Bill’ even all these years later. We run into some of the kids he coached in Football way back, and now they’re 40 something, and they still call him coach! And oh my God, he loved those people at the newspaper office.”
Grandson Freddie Frasier remembers
“As big and scary as my granddaddy Bill seemed to people, he had a fear of chickens and birds. Growing up, his daddy raised some chickens and Bill got pecked on. He said they even tried to grab him. So he was always afraid of anything with feathers…”
“Bill told me so many stories about him growing up. I learned a lot from Bill that actually helped me out in life. He scared me from doing a lot of stuff, too. My father was incarcerated, so basically Bill was my dad. If it wasn’t for Bill, I know I would have been in a messed up situation. He had structure and it was a lot – but I am so grateful.”
“When I was a kid, he’d get screaming and I’d see those eyes and it would be scary… But later, as I grew up, I learned a lot of it was an act. He’s the most kind-hearted person I ever met in my life.”
“If there’s one thing about Bill, he gave it to you straight. And he taught me responsibility. I didn’t have a drink and didn’t smoke because he told me what those things would do. I mean, he told me some terrifying stuff. He’d say, ‘You wanna be in a chain gang?’ That scared the hell outta me. I mean, I’d be out with friends and would come home early thinking about ending up in a chain gang. My friends all would stay out all night and I went home. And to this day I never took a drink.”
“My grand-daddy was complete man. He taught me and my cousins and all of us to be responsible and to stay in school. He told me once when I was about 11 years old, while working out in the yard, he said, ‘Listen Buck, keep your butt in school because hard physical work will kill ya’.” He stressed a lot of things like that, but mostly about education, because that’s important.”
“So, sure enough, every single day between 1996 and 2008, he would make sure I was up, outta bed, and out the door to get to school. He’d be screaming and banging his cane around…” (As the eldest grandchild at 27 years old, Buck was the first in the Tompkins family to graduate college.)
“There be times when I was in school and had to read these text books that were like $300 and $400 each. I’d have to call Bill and he would holler and carry on – and then call back later to tell me to go to Western Union to get the money. I had to go through all that, for him to end up sending the money anyhow.”
“Bill liked fishing for mullet, and it seems like it was just a couple weeks ago, we went out there to his favorite spot right by Doctor’s Hospital… We’d be out there all day and we wouldn’t catch nothing – but he sure would make you laugh.”
“Some days we’d just go there and talk and look at the water. And of course that would be the day he didn’t have his pole and all the fish would be jumping and he start screamin’ at them – and then just get up and chase the ducks. He loved fish, but hated anything with feathers…”
“This is what he taught me. He taught me to share. Like a lot of kids, I was selfish, so he gave me a huge lesson: I had a friend who came from Haiti and he was much less fortunate. We’re outside playing and, at the time, I really liked the Miami Dolphins. So Bill brought out like 15 Dolphin t-shirts to us. He goes back in and is watching me from the window, and the Haitian kid asks for a shirt – and I said ‘no!’ I didn’t want to give him one. Bill came back out and made me give the kid five of the shirts. I said, ‘why you giving all these Dolphins shirts away?” Bill said, ‘This guy’s got nothing and you’ve got way more than him and he needs them.’ Took me a while to get over that one, but I remember the lesson.”
“One thing about Bill, whenever he says he’s gonna do something, he’s gonna do it. Right after the surgery, he could only have ice chips and that was driving him crazy. I’m up in the hospital with him and he says, ‘Buck, I been in here a week and I need a root beer.’ I said, ‘I can do that?’ and he says ‘Hell yes.’ So I go in elevator to get the root beer and find out the nurse was listening. We got caught… The next week, Bill says he really could use a Big Gulp from the 7-11. ‘Buck, I’ve been in here two weeks I really need a root beer, please!’ I couldn’t do it. But he sure did try…”
“Bill died Friday, June 16. We were, of course, completely shocked because he was doing so good following the surgery and was way ahead of schedule with his recovery – so this happened out of nowhere…”
“I loved Bill a lot – a whole lot. He did so much for me I will never forget that. He was my favorite person in the world.”
