Pushing open the door to room 501 at North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison, I rapped softly before peeking inside to see Billy Bert Baker. He was alone, drawing slow, deep breaths while slumbering on his back.
An oxygen tube was threaded to his nose and an IV was attached to his right arm. Arranged behind and above the silver-haired icon were Christmas cards from friends and loved ones.
This former president of North Arkansas College since 1974, who'd previously spent 17 years as vice president of student affairs at Arkansas Tech in Russellville, is nearing the end of a long and purposeful life.
This is the day Billy Bert, as he's affectionately known to many, is to be discharged back to his family home in Gilbert where his family can be at his bedside. I felt fortunate to find him still in his room.
Standing beside him, I imagined his sense of humor, engaging smile and the last time we visited and laughed together. It had been years ago at the North Arkansas college. Billy is always welcoming and engaging to everyone.
Those qualities were woven into his nature, having been raised in the closely knit Buffalo River community by a loving extended family.
Fourteen years ago I wrote about the remarkable life and death of Billy's younger brother, Jack Eldon, who died in 2002 after a surprisingly long lifetime with Down syndrome.
As with Billy Bert, brother Jack also was much loved and respected by all who met and knew the spirit-filled man. Over the years Jack became best known by his nicknames, "Uncle Bockey" and my favorite, "The Prince of Gilbert."
Billy, who by 1954 had earned his master's and Ph.D degrees from the University of Arkansas, is a compassionate man who understood human nature and enjoyed a vast circle of friends, family and colleagues in academe.
Only a few weeks ago, he was named one of Harrison's "Men of Distinction," an enduring tribute from the community that wanted him to understand just how much they appreciated all he's contributed. Billy Bert attended the awards ceremony in a wheelchair. I believe he understood all the affection directed toward him that day. Earlier in his career, others had honored him with another richly earned inclusion into the "Hall of Distinction."
With the two of us alone and the rhythm of his breathing to break what felt like sacred silence, I imagined him as the star athlete and basketball player he'd been at Marshall High School during the 1940s and later at Arkansas Tech.
It wasn't difficult to visualize Billy Bert, even in this final stage of his 84 years, full of energy and high expectations, racing a ball up the court, anticipating his future and nurturing hopes and dreams with his friends and teammates as they enjoyed their youths in the heart of the Ozarks.
I thought of his wife, Bonnie, and how he must have felt when they first met, the thrill of their courtship and the three children they came to parent. Looking into his face, I reflected on what all he'd be leaving in his wake. There is that loving extended family and countless contributions to education that improved life for thousands of Arkansas students in so many ways.
As with many of us, everything he'd gained and overcome across the years, every fear, joy, laugh, tear and physical acquisition had funneled down to something as simple as resting pain-free in a comfortable bed with memories of all he'd known.
My stay with Billy Bert lasted only a few minutes. He never knew I'd slipped in and out. But that was OK. I'd only stopped to personally offer my respect and admiration for such a unique man and his legacy.
What a wonderful world and society we'd share if only each of us strived to offer just a little more sacrifice like Billy Bert Baker has so freely done over the scores of years he was able to contribute so much.
I wanted to write today not as a eulogy or farewell, but in the hopes that Billy Bert knows, when his time to depart this world does arrive at home, what a superb job he did of leaving it a better place for those to come, simply because he once was here and cared so much.
Voters' voice denied
Did you see the wire-service story about the Helena-West Helena city council voting to override the will of more than 60 percent of the community's voters by refusing to reduce the number serving on that council from 10 to six?
Apparently, they really did reject the overwhelming votes of the citizens they serve by repealing the very ordinance their people approved.
The excuse from Mayor Jay Hollowell seemed more than flimsy to me. He claimed (with a straight face) that the repeal stemmed from the fact the ordinance would have allowed for at-large council members and was unclear in its wording.
Baloney. Give the good folks of your community better than that. It sure seemed clear enough to prompt the majority of them to enact the ordinance by voting for the significant reduction (sure sounds justifiable to me) in your council that rejected them. Think about it.
------------v------------
Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 12/17/2016