Bill Bigley

We have lost a truly wonderful and unique individual. Father, grandfather, friend, teammate, successful businessman and entrepreneur for decades. And I dare say one of the best raconteurs /story tellers ever. His passion, as with many of his friends, was baseball. He loved the game and excelled at it at each level he played; youth league, Del Campo HS, American Legion, American River College, Night League, County League, Mexican American League and National Division Winter League. He was a highly skilled pitcher and infielder, great teammate and a fierce competitor. Some of his teammates over the years were MLB players Larry Bowa, Dusty Baker, Buck Martinez, John Vukovich, Lowell Palmer and Bill Plummer. And his legion coach was the legendary Spider Jorgensen. Following his playing career he coached the local legion team and imparted his love of the game and knowledge on his players. I remember in 1970 being contacted by Bill to play for the Sacramento Smokies. He had spoken with Larry Manuian about me playing SS as I'd just returned from playing pro ball. So after the second game Bill checked with me to make sure I was getting "my" $25 per game. Of course I had no idea I was suppose to be paid as other players were that I wasn't aware of. When Bill heard this he said, "Wait here". A few minutes later he came back with $50 for the first two games he got from Manuian and I received $25 per game the rest of the season because of Bill. That's who he was.......always thinking of others. The people he knew were amazing. He was an avid movie buff with over 2,500 DVDs and watched them constantly. He had a wonderful friendship with the legendary actor, Glenn Ford, and his family. He would tell wonderful stories by the hour of his experiences with Mr. Ford, the famous people he met because of his relationship with him and his respect and reverence for him. He was also a collector of movie artifacts and has the actual hat John Wayne, one of his heroes, wore in the movie Hondo. Being a movie and Hollywood lover myself, I was enthralled by these stories and always had dozens of questions which he patiently answered until I was done. During our conversations over the past several years his love and pride for his daughters, Nicole and Meghan, and their life accomplishments, was readily apparent. And when his granddaughter, Vivian, was born, there was no greater joy in his life. He loved every minute being with her and always sent pictures whenever he was with her. And he was a dog lover! I met Mikie and Katie and he told me about his other dogs he had in his life. And he had pictures in his home of each one. There was no doubt they were his "kids", too, and he treated them as such. Bill was a Navy veteran who served his country honorably for six years.....and, of course, had many stories about his time in the service, which were classics. He loved the military and its vets and supported them every chance he had. I moved from Sacramento in 1973 and lost contact with many of my friends at that time. In 2014, my father passed away and we held a memorial service for him in Elk Grove. This was 41 years after I moved from Sacramento. After the service this gentleman came up to me to offer his condolences........it was Bill. He read my father's obituary in the paper and came to his service. And we hadn't had contact for 41 years! I was incredibly touched by his love, caring and compassion during that time. He came out of respect for my dad and our friendship. That's who Bill Bigley was.....always caring for others and wanting to know what he could do for you. It's something 'll never forget and will always mean so much to me. The past several years we rekindled our friendship through business and feel so blessed that we were able to reconnect. We told the same baseball stories and laughed just as hard all those years later. As with great friendships, "He didn't ask where have you been. He asked how have you been." RIP, my friend. Thank you for your friendship, amazing stories, caring and sharing so my laughs. You will be missed but the memories you have created with all of us will be in our hearts forever. Larry Hebert