Bill Jennings, Van Meter, Iowa, Pre-Med. He told this lie just like his buddies did when asked to introduce himself with the old “name, hometown and major” routine at the University of Northern Iowa fifty-four years ago. He was never very good at deception and particularly pathetic at selling this one given the fact that Pre-Med was not a major back then. Luckily for all of us, Art became his passion at about the same time it became his major. He studied with jeweler Dr. Clifford Harold and patiently observed and perfected a coveted level of craftsmanship that few could top. All of these skills worked their way into a long teaching career while being a painter, screen printer, potter and sculptor. More than all of that he was a good friend, the kind of friend that makes friendship easy.

Things we learned from Bill:

- It is OK to use up far less than your share of the world’s natural resources.
- The pursuit of thriftiness can be pushed to the point of scrimping.
- Recycling can involve whole buildings not just pop bottles.
- Take care of your family farm and pass it down to the next generation like your great-grandpa and grandpa did.
- Tinker endlessly, “It takes a lot of bad ideas to get a good one, keep thinking.”
- Keeping a journal of your activities helps you remember your accomplishments when you think you’ve wasted a day.
- Gifts to community fundraisers can be frequent, large, and anonymous.
- Favors to friends are best done when anticipated and often completed before they are even requested.
- Craftsmanship is an important component of Art work and life. Stacking firewood is considered an Art form.

Things we can do to remember Bill:

- Make plans to take an old friend, your kid or grandkids fishing… Then do it.
- Never pass-up the opportunity to play with your granddaughters.
- Have a corndog or three at the state fair and ride Ye Ole Mill.
- Read “The Journals of Lewis & Clark” before you kayak down any river in Iowa.
- Passionately collect something unique like BB Guns, only not BB Guns because it turns out Bill pretty much had them all.
- Drive slowly, deliberately, and daily down a gravel road while making sure to wave at folks along the way.
- Stop at a lake, park, or river. Pick up someone else’s trash and don’t tell anyone you did it… Bill will know…. He WILL know.

William “Bill” Frank Jennings left his family and many friends with 72 years of memories on March 4th 2020, five short months after a cancer diagnosis. He was a 4th generation Van Meter Iowan, Waukee High School art teacher, artist, husband, dad and grandpa. It was Bill’s wish to have “the most non-public deal possible”.