Emmitsburg Osteopathic Primary Care Center
121-123 West Main Street, Rear Entrance
P.O. Box 1219
Emmitsburg, MD 21727
301-447-3310

Bill’s Eulogy                                                                        May 31, 2006

 I first met Bill through his handwriting.  Linda told me of this guy that she had met at the Indian Trail Inn, no kidding she fell for the drummer.  Linda had some close encounters with men that made me not confident that her judgment went much beyond pheromones, so when she asked me to analyze his handwriting to see if he was “OK” and not a disaster, I was relieved.  She told me that that they often just hung out together and just held hands.  But when he held her hand, “well, it was just special” “it was safe, calming, loving and warm.” Bill and Linda were friends fast becoming loves.  In my “friend as big sister mode I was eager to study his handwriting.  But to my amazement, his handwriting revealed someone who was a straight shooter, who had an intelligent and sensitive mind, a bit of a philosopher, were deep emotions and a good drummer.  I sighed a sigh of relief and said she could follow her heart.  Just look what happened.  I ended up going to the Indian Trail Inn on a regular basis to hang out with new friends.  My Bill took to his friend as big brother role and made sure Linda was OK whenever Linda needed a lift back to town from the Inn.  The Inn, with its low, rain soaked roof, moldy roof and a bar tender than only understood cheap beer, was the place to be because Bill and Hiram played there.  Talk about going Country—We turned down Iron Springs Road in the rain, we cautioned on directions not to end up in the creek on the odd turns, it was dark, it was far, it was raining, it was fun.  I even took my Mother In Law Ethel there for a night out when my Bill was out of town-for Ethel it was a cultural experience she never forgot.

Linda and Bill got cuter and sweeter and it wasn’t long, with the help of Monsignor Vincent Malloy, Bill and Linda tied the knot.  Linda and Bill knew they were loving on borrowed time.  Bill’s health brought some challenges to say the least.   There were the usual husband and wife heavy discussions and Linda decided that they would get along better if Bill just got in touch with his feminine side.  How to do this, ah!  All he needs is to see things from my point of view.  So, she inserted a Linda microchip that he could tap into anytime.  She gave him one of her kidneys.  I absolutely witnessed that Bill did change his point of view, they became of one mind and heart as he boogied through life with Linda’s extra kidney.  Linda and Bill had the gift of caring about people and making them feel special.  From Florida to Scotland, to Ireland, to New Orleans (truly its own country), to Adelaid, Australia (God Bless Broadband), to Wednesdays at the Fairfield Inn with Chris and Karen, Karl and Barb, Frank and Chris, Charles, Jim, Marylou and Trudy and sometimes Chris and of course Sal and Joan the Innkeepers. Bill and Linda made and kept friends by simply being with them, caring about them, making them feel important and special and going to there side in hours of need and fun.. Call them on the phone—even at 6:30 AM or 11:30 at night—you were welcomed.  Knock on their door and plunk yourself down—you were welcomed.  No need to be special, they made you feel special.  Yet, each of their friends that I met are really special people, awesome people.  What a treat to be part of the family.

Bill adores his Sister Betty.  Ten years his big SIS, Bill loved to tell the stories of her rescuing him when his sugar was low, when his heart was broken, when he had lost his way in life.  It is a quiet abiding love.  God made no mistake making Betty Bill’s guardian angel.  Not to mention that that on her way to Emmitsburg from Pittsburg, Betty was to stop at various favorite Italian bakeries and bring Bill some of his favorite foods. Betty, with great love, always did.   

Dena and Bill had a special bond:  The two night owls chatting deep into the night discussing the world the universe and medicine.  Bill rubbed off so much in Dena that she is now in the nursing field.  Dena also can mix a mean drink—could this be a Bill influence?

Linda and I have known each other and have been great friends ever since we came to Emmitsburg over 25 years ago. I count Linda, after my husband, as my best friend.  We met at the F & M bank, getting set up in Town.  By the time I graduated from WVSOM, Linda and Bill were already a family.  Years later Linda and I envisioned a non-profit teaching medical practice.  Linda both practical and visionary, eagerly became one of the founding Mothers of EOPCC.   Bill was a computer whiz, was good at bookkeeping and offered his services to keep me and EOPCC on the straight and narrow.  When we were solvent he glowed, when we were dangerously close to totaling out, Bill would call me late at night and lower the boom.  Bill had a permanent part time job with us, except for all the nearly seven years of his service, he never got paid even a nickel.  Though Bill Junker I learned about computers. We upgraded, defragged, added memory, and learned about viruses.  EOPCC ‘s needs became so great that Bill turned the basement portion of his home into the bookkeeping office with computers, laser printers and filing cabinets.  Eventually, Linda, Bill and Johnny built a special office in their basement just for EOPCC.  The planet has never known a better bookkeeper than Bill Junker.  Linda, has been the Corporate Treasurer for EOPCC and there is a second upstairs office in the Junker home from where I would get a five-thirty AM phone call from Linda as she had concerns, an idea, or was working on an EOPCC Fundraiser.  Most of the time I was already awake.

Before the Linda Kidney and the Pancreas transplant, Bill’s Diabetes was so brittle that there were multiple episodes of very low blood sugars.  During those twilight suspensions between heaven and earth, Bill would have visions.  Sometimes he would be in  locker rooms discussing the Game with dead baseball players and golfers.  By the way,  Bill’s love of golf has metamorphed Linda into a respectable player.  Golf was also a way for Bill to have quality time with his sister Pat.  The closest I got were a couple of coffee mugs with golfers on them.  After one of these precarious episodes, Bill told me that he was reluctant to “come back.”  He was just seconds away from getting the answer on how to save the world.  I admit, I for a flickering half- second said “Oh why couldn’t he have just gotten the answer!”  Then we could really save the world. But, it came with a brain crash—because then he would have to be with God permanently.  Yipes! I guess he really had the answer now! On one of those shares I asked Bill to write down the “answer on how to save the world” the next time he accidentally got close.   In dutiful compliance, March 12, 2000, Bill did write down one of his visions.  This is the enigmatic , powerful framed statement you may have taken time to read, while Bill was lying “In state” I share this with you because one week before he died, Bill printed his vision and assigned me to accurately word it so it would be a written legacy from Bill to all of us.  I was assigned the role of Baruch accurately capturing my modern day prophet Jeremiah, Bill Junker.  Linda and will make a copy for any who are interested in the “pocket size, can be folded version.

For me, it is no accident that Bill went for the light on the feast of the Ascension of Jesus.  I have no idea for the significance of the time:  7:35 PM.  You have to love a guy with dimples, five kidneys, two pancreases, and one eye.  Yet he was so beautiful inside and out, his laugh infectious, his heart true. Whether it is Polka Dot dresses or not Amish four grain beer, Bill enjoyed life, treasured his family and his friends and adored his Linda.  While Bill is really enjoying all of us missing him immensely, I can hear his insistent voice with just a bit of chide in it, for us to celebrate no just his life, but each of us to celebrate ourselves and each others life.  To enjoy with a wink, fun and reverence the incredible treasure that is ours. 

Bill's Vision

The vision of William Francis Junker, March 12, 2000; Bills Birth date January 18, 1950

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.  AMEN.

I, William Francis Junker, I dreamt, I hallucinated, call it what you will. This was my vision:  I saw Buddha, lying on his back.  The vision was truly the figure, the unmistaken figure of the Buddha lying on his back.  I saw him in my mind’s eye, lying there. I felt the presence of other witnesses, silent, watchful. There were billions upon billions of gossamer layers of film covering the Buddha body, yet the layers were so thin that there was no mistaking the shape of the Buddha. The ground, dark and wet, allowed a thick fog around the statue-like Buddha, eerie and ethereal.  There was no sound, I was as one deaf, what I heard seemed to come from inside my head.  I, William Francis Junker, heard, I know not from where, the chant of voices in my ears, it was the roar of millions upon millions chanting:  “What is now and ever shall be, world without end, AMEN.”  I felt the presence of John Lennon and there were others I knew not, silent and present.  Every time I, we, heard the phrase well up in the chanting, one thin gossamer layer would lift up from the Buddha, its shape preserved..  As each thin layer floated up, the Buddha became more distinct in its features.  Let there be no doubt, the figure I saw was the Buddha.  I came to know and this I believe: the layers of gossamer are the sins of the world.  As more and more people are turned and believe in God, civilization is brought closer to a more perfect existence. Joy and happiness filled me.