Treasures Among Us (Part 1 of 2)
Last week I shared with you about meeting Bill and Marge Montgomery in church, his early years in committing his live to Jesus Christ, his music accomplishments and attending the Navy Music School. The following is additional information I learned about Bill during our conversations.
Bill didn’t let any grass grow under his feet. While home on leave from the Navy during World War II, he rekindled his friendship with Marge, whom he had not seen in three years. Within five weeks, he fell in love and married his wife of now 70 years. In his humorous way, he described her as a bit chunky but a nice girl. He then made a nice recovery by saying, with a twinkle in his eye: “I’m going to keep her.”
Marge’s father was in poor health at the time so Marge and her sister assisted him and his wife and helped support them. After three and a half years in the Navy, Bill’s father-in-law wrote a letter to President Truman saying Bill’s presence was needed at home to assist the family. Bill received the word of his honorable discharge while on an island in the South Pacific. His commanding officer told him: “I don’t know who you know but it must be someone high up because you are headed home with a discharge!”
Sometime after obtaining his discharge he was talking with someone who mentioned a Biblical term that he didn’t understand so Bill decided to go to Philadelphia College of the Bible (now Carin University). He graduated from Philadelphia College of the Bible by taking night courses while working in Bell Telephone Company’s Sales Department in Philadelphia. In 1950, he started working in the insurance industry in life, health and disability insurance with New England Mutual Life Insurance Company. He took professional education classes at Villanova and Ursinus College. Through this education he earned many certificates that enabled him to advance in his profession and become an independent insurance agent.
Bill has an active spiritual life. During our discussion, he mentioned Camp Sankanac, a Christian camp near Pottstown. I said that I know all about Camp Sankanac. He asked me how I knew of it and I told him our former church, Grace Chapel, in Havertown, Pennsylvania, always held its church-wide picnic there the end of each June. Well, it’s a small world because he told me that Marge went to Grace Chapel for a period of time, they were married there and he was the Music Leader for Youth for Christ
there for five years. After my latest visit with Bill, I learned that he was a partner in the insurance business with a man I had known from Grace Chapel in the 1980s. I actually worked with the man when I was in charge of a team taking a physical inventory of the contents of the church for insurance purposes. He told me that the next time he and Marge are with me he would mention that Barb and I had been members of Grace Chapel and I would receive a big hug from her. I did receive my hug from Marge a day before I completed this column! Bill also started Young Life at Marple Newtown and Owen J. Roberts High Schools, where he worked with the youth of the schools. Some of his other accomplishments include: Director of Music at Manoa Presbyterian Church, and Church of the Savior, in Wayne (both churches in Delaware County); writing a column for the Pottstown Mercury Newspaper for 11 years; and teaching Sunday school. Since I have been meeting with Bill over the last month, I have talked to someone he taught in Sunday school over 50 years ago. He was teaching a new Christian and helped his student develop a strong spiritual base.
Bill told me that people should never retire because they will die within 10 years. He certainly practices what he preaches because he didn’t “retire” from work until he was 85 and was unable to drive anymore to see his clients after having open heart surgery.
Bill has quite a lot to be proud of, which includes: His love for God, love for his family, Marge and their offspring: four children, seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren; his accomplishments in the music and business worlds; writing several books on finance, a book that is still in progress and an instructional video for the insurance industry that is still in progress, as well as his wonderful ability to encourage others when they “Take a Ticket”.
As I was leaving the nursing home for the first time, where Bill was recovering, I took a wrong turn inside the building because it had added a door for security purposes. I guess I must have looked like a deer in the headlights because a man and lady talking to each other in one of the offices saw me and knew I had questions. After they got me headed in the right direction I thanked them. However, I didn’t leave it at that. I told them if they were ever having a bad day to just go visit Bill Montgomery (I gave them the room number) for encouragement and they would be set for the rest of the day. You see, Bill never retired!
As of this writing, Bill is recovering at his home.
In honor of Bill, his enthusiasm, his humor and his musical ability, I invite you to view a short video by Victor Borge as seen on YouTube at bit.ly/2cw9iPy.