Lost in the Woods, Lost in Life.
It is winter, the sun is in hiding, like myself.
Looking for a man, a woman, a road,
something that will lead to safety, or satisfaction.
Missing my baby, my wife, my dog that i never had.
Pleading for water, a cigar, a blanket or a doctor
that will bring me happiness.
Alienated, never to be found.

Profoundly Written by Vincent Edwards
2009

 

Fred and Ethel was Willie favorite thing for Willie to call us.not mom or pops we had willie in our family  for at least 20 years.I remember the day he married my sweetchild he played 18 holes the moring of the wedding he then came to  the hotel to get ready we found him in the bar throwing down gin and tonics. I sent him up stairs. to dress. he could not figure out how to button the shirt to his tux so  he went out to the hallway and found a woman to help him. It was amazing that he could stand up   to marry my daughter. That was just the start Willie was so good to me and always acted like he had miss me so much when he came home from fishing. I think it was for my chicken and noodles or fried chicken. He was so good to us he came to Sacrameto to drive the big truck back to Seattle. He always came when I called for help. I have so many stories I could write all nite.    Fred and I loved Willie Man so much .I can say I have not lit any candles but I cried for 3 days you have read the other stories take those times 100 and that was the fun we had . He had a horrible demon in his head that just took over and as much as we tried we could not seem to help.My parnets died a few years back and if there is heaven i can promise you my mother is waiting at the gate for him.Allof our family will miss him so much . He was a good father a great soninlaw He love his boys so much.He went to the games taught the boys all about sports and sportmanship. He has put a hole in my heart that will never go away but we do have Vinnie and Buck to reminds us that he will never forgotten.I do wish my daughter the strenght to love again and never forget her first love.I miss you Willie we love you and wish you could still be with us. I have to sign off as here come the tears again. Good  nite Willie       love Mom and Pops.

This is a great site and I have appreciated reading the comments and stories.  I know that James has tons of stories that start out "This one time, Willie and me....".  They shared almost 30 years together, and as Willie would point out he knew all 3 of James' wives.  LOL.  Guess that is a lot of history for sure. 

I could always tell when Willie was on the phone, because he and James would start laughing immediately and talk sports.  Even James' voice would change the minute Willie-man called. 

The first time I met Willie was when he came out to Montana in 2003.  Early spring and I think they had just moved to Boise.  James and I weren't married yet and they stayed at James' folks house.  After a night of partying, we got home in the wee hours.  Part way through the night it started snowing...and snowing...and snowing.  James' dad told Willie he was crazy to leave, but leave he did.  Took him a couple of hours to drive 20 miles it was so bad.  He made it and we laughed about how Willie would recount the road trip home.  Even though things would seem to go wrong on his adventures, we would laugh so hard about every twist and turn.

The second time I met Willie personnally was when James, his son and I went out to Boise.  I didn't make a very good first impression on Allissa and her family I'm sure.  After not eating all day, taking some cold medicine and then started partying immediately...well, let's just say it turned a little ugly.  On the comments I listed earlier that at one point in the night,  Willie pulled up in the car with James and the kids asking why Alex was laying in the driveway, and James saying no, that's my wife.  I didn't remember a whole bunch the next day but apparently I let off a bomb, Willie got a ticket for lighting fireworks in the park and Willie would say for a couple of years later that grass didn't grow where I threw up in their yard in 3 spots.

Willie came out to Montana one other time for St. Patty's Day when our son wasn't quite a year old (2006).  He ended up walking home from a bar at 2:00 a.m., befriending another guy I guess out for a stroll.  They walked together for about an hour (Willie was lost), but Willie helped the guy by counseling him on his problems.  Of course, the way Willie put it was that he wasn't sure if the guy was going to rob him or help him find his hotel so they just kept walking together and talking about the man's troubles.  I do honestly believe that Willie helped that guy in some way -- without ever knowing it.

That was one of the best qualities Willie had -- he always made a friend no matter where he was.  You always felt like you were important to him.  The world has lost a true friend, but the world will never forget him. Peace to you, Willie.  You can now rest.

Peace be with Allissa, Buck and Vince -- you will find it whether it is in a story posted on this site, a few memories around a campfire, or writing your own recollections in a journal.  Sharing is what brings peace and keeps your loved one close. 

I am proud to have known Willie for 21 years.  He crab fished with my ex-husband on the Stormy Sea in Alaska.  Allissa and I were roommates at the time.  My ex invited us out  one night to meet some of his fishing buddies downtown Seattle. That was the night we met Willie and you can only imagine how much fun we had! That was just the beginning of years of "pee your pants" laughter and adventure. We had so many great times together. Willie and Allissa were head over heals crazy about each other. I will always remember how they laughed together at night in their bed and again in the mornings. They truly loved each other.

I was lucky enough to have Willie for a next door neighbor in Boise for several years, We instantly became buddies and he quickly became the brother I never had.  We shared a ton of laughs and adventures and Willie always had some interesting story of what had happened that week or day to him.

   One of our favorite things to do on the weekends was have a fire in Willies backyard, he had an old fireplace he had gotten from a job site set up on his patio and we would sit around it, have a few drinks and tell stories, but we always ended up putting cans of paint or hairspray or whatever we could find in the fire then running in the house like little kids and watching it explode.  I cant count how many nights we did that and even though it would make both of are wife's so mad we stilled rolled on the ground laughing and high fiving each other, then trying to find the next thing to explode.

One time my wife had hired a cleaning service to clean our house while we were at work, Willie came home and saw their company car in our driveway so he went into the yard and entered our house through the backdoor, well needless to say this freaked out the cleaning ladies thinking for sure he was going to rob them or the house they were cleaning. The owner of the company called and said the cleaning ladies had left do to a strange guy coming in and saying he was the neighbor and rummaging around, I assured her is was just Willie and it was ok.  When we returned home that night we found Willie had switched a picture we had on the shelve for a picture that was in his house, and he couldn't,t understand why the ladies were so freaked out.

Willie was the most worry free person I have ever met, He lived for the day and always made the best of a situation, He absolutely loved his morning coffee and paper and when he was working he loved having the radio turned up loud and listening to Howard Stern. In the evenings he would take their dog Alex on long walks and shoot hoops with Vinnie and his friends for hours and on the weekends they would all go snowboarding.

In the pictures you'll see a small fire Willie and I made one evening, yes there was gas in that can (how else do you start a fire) and yes the fire department did show up and said that they had reports of a structure fire and they had to extinguish our fire,  Willie tried everything from saying it was a religious fire to even offering them some beer if they would leave it alone, but we lost and they doused our fire to smoldering ashes.

Willies mind was always racing a hundred miles a minute, but he would still take the time to ask about you or your day and he truly cared. He will be greatly missed and yet so many things will always remind me of him.  He was so unique yet I felt like he was my brother and we understood each other perfectly.

I hope Willie is riding along on some fishing boat on the Bearing Sea, laughing, smiling and arguing politics and sports with the angels, saying the phrase "C'mon now"  and reading all the newspapers he can with a morning coffee and Alex by his side.

I miss you so much Willie I can only hope one day our paths will cross again.

I Love you man.

Jim Little

james jendro and my best friend willie at my son james bmx race

Willie asked me if i would like to help him cut firewood  with him as he had a firewood business in the early 80s,i said i would,what an adventure followed!!!!!!!!! Willie and i cut,split and delivered at least four cords of wood a day five to six times a week for over two years.Those  times were some of best of my life because of Willie. He became my best friend and my brother.We forged a frienship built  on hardwork and endless hours talking sports while we cut firewood, Of course if you know Willie everything would not always go as planned,his truck would breakdown in the middle of no where,lugnuts would fly off his trucks wheels going down the freeway at 60mph with a load of wood,how we ever made i do not know.We would be laughing so hard  we were crying.If something could go wrong it did,but thats what made those times soooo great .Willie knew the woods like the back of his hand.I liked the Raiders so one time Willie traded some wood for 2 tickets to a Monday night football game,front row at the Kingdome,what a great time we had .I  could go on for days about these years the great times i shared with my bro Willie. Thanks for the great times !!!!!!