William Deford Bathurst

West Point, 1954

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Brig. Gen. RM Ong (Ret) on May 24, 2016:

I have never met Bill Bathurst. I knew him only via our west-point.org Forum. I found his emails to be interesting, informative and wide-ranging in scope. I always looked forward to what he had to say -- his likes and dislikes, his opinions on world affairs and about the military. I was always keenly aware of his loyalty to West Point and what the institution meant to him. I also learned much about his wife Romney, who was just as interesting a character as Bill. She was an avid bird-watcher and traveled to many places to see personally what they looked like and how they behaved in the wild. I was delighted to learn that she would finally travel to the Philippines to see the native birds thereat -- but saddened to realize that I would be in the USA during her visit, and that I would not be able to meet her and her group. Anyway, Romney informed me that her Tour Guide was successful in showing her group a good number of wild birds in their habitats. It was with great sorrow that I learned about Bill's passing. I and my fellow Forumites lost a genuine friend and a frequent contributor to our Forum. He will be genuinely missed. Be thou at peace, Bill! I am pleased to remember you with this eulogy for Memorial Day 2016. And now, my final salute, Sir! Brigadier General Ramon M. Ong (Retired) Armed Forces of the Philippines USMA 1963

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