How sad. I wonder if his family knows just how many lives he touched.

Farewell Gonefishin. Peace and blessings.

I am very saddened to learn of Bill's passing - he was a premier online gardening god to me, and a fine old school gentleman. He used to call me Raise for short, and he tried Jet Star hybrids on my recommendation, like he needed a recommendation from a junior like me. I will really miss him, and as a result am feeling extra appreciative today of this gardening community that all of us, with our different backgrounds and ages, have made rich.

This forum has been missing something recently. That's what made me start to wonder why Bill wasn't posting. Now I know. Good bye dear friend.

Thanks so much, davidandkasie, for finding and posting the information.

Jim

Very sad. I did not interact with him much at all, but I really enjoyed reading his posts. I did not realize his age, as it did not come across in what he wrote. His knowledge and warm personality came through quite well.

This is very sad indeed. He will be missed.

Bill... Thanks for all the help you gave me!!!

I was afraid that this would be the response but I'm glad you posted that initial question, RuthieG.

Just as you say, Vance, Bill P. had a warm personality and he was so very helpful and encouraging.

He was here when I first found this forum and I will miss him.

Steve

Bill was a very nice guy always willing to help and give great advice. He will be missed very much.

Oh NO!! I am so sorry to hear of this. Bill was a great help and a great gardener here on GW. Yes, he will be greatly missed.
Alberta

Bill will be sadly missed by all his gw friends. He was my kind of gardener. YOPPER
P.S. Could some one that has his address print off this page and send it to his wife so his family would know how many friends he had in cyberspace

Bill will be greatly missed
Not soon forgotten
There is no death
What seems so is transition
As my wife said this AM
There are (only) wonderful gardens in Heaven!

This made me think about the internet. There are communities (on line) where humans communicate yet never speak...know of, but never get to "know" each other. See each other (IM)but never know the face. And then...when it is important are left with the USPS to send final regards.

Peace

Well I sent a note to his family...We just lost my DH's Mother and we had two services..one here and one in Florida...(we took her back to her home to be buried next to her husband) so I know exactly how they are all feeling...and I want them to know that I really cared for him.....I looked for his posts every day...I think he is probably getting started in the big garden upstairs...maybe building a little cold frame or planting tomatoes....Rest in Peace friend.

Oh, this is so sad. I loved his posts. He was such a friendly man, like a grandpa. He helped me get started with his great advice, 3 years ago when I started my first garden in TX. I'm now in CA and gardening again and I always looked forward to his posts. He grew awsome pepper plants and I always wanted to have a garden like his.

I wish his family the best, he will be sorely missed in these here parts.

Kristi

Bill was also a regular on the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum here. He often posted photos there of his compost bins, the machine setups he'd designed for turning, and his garden plants. Including grandkids and great-grandkids who helped him out in the garden.

Reading his posts, I always heard a Texas accent in my mind and that southern style of plainspoken words surrounded by courtesy. There was a dignity in how he wrote, a respect for himself and for others.

He was a good man.
-Patrick

Patrick

I don't think there's a higher accolade than "he was a good man".

I am so upset to hear of this. Truly, this man had touched so many lives. Not just here on this forum. If a man can affect those of us here on an internet website, imagine what he did for his family , friends and those he met. Very few of us are missed by so many.
Many smiles Bill.....God be with you.

Oh my with a big sniff. So enjoyed Bill's posts.

here is a few of his posts.

Thank you Bill for all the kind words you had to share with all of us. You will be sadly missed by those that never saw you, just that golf ball you used to take those picture of the harvests. This forum was so enriched by his posts and pictures.

ML

Here is a link that might be useful: some of bills posts

I DONT KONOW THIS MAN, BUT I SURE WISH I COULD OF COME ACROSS HIM. I AM VERRY SORRY EVERYONE. HE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, AND ALSO

AN ANGEL ONCE TOLD ME,

"IM IN HEAVEN WHERE THE ANGELS FLY, WHERE I WILL ALWAYS LIVE AND NEVER DIE" (D.J.)

hE WILL HAVE SUCH WONDERFUL THINGS FOR US TO SEE WHEN ITS OUR TIME!!

YasminShi

I keep thinking I'm going to open this thread to find a message from gonefishin saying something like...Hey, that's a different Bill Pelham...not me! I'm here! But it isn't going to happen is it?

And to think we never even met the man.

Blessings to his family.

I keep thinking the same as peggy....I'll log on to find a post where he tells us that all was just a big mistake, he's doing fine, just busy with the gardens like the rest of us.

He will be very missed. He was always so kind and helpful to everyone,always made one feel welcome. I will miss him.

Wherever he is, I hope he is fine, just busy with the gardens....
Michelle

I learned so much from this man's postings! He will be sorely missed here. When discouraged in my garden, I would search for his photos and get enthused again. My condolences to his family.

Funny but I really keep hoping the same thing...He'll post like he did last year and just say...Hey I was in my garden...

I'd like to keep this on the front page for a little while longer ...for everyone to see.

I too had been recently looking for Bill aka Gonefishin. In fact, I came here tonight to look for any signs he was still posting.

I can only echo the thoughts of others here. I know he was also caring for his loving wife. I know it just will not be the same for her. Bill was such a hard working & lovable man who could find a picture about whatever you were talking about.

Bill you are missed, RIP.
Gumby_CT

Oh, wow, how sad. I will miss his posts, too; I always looked for them whenever I had a question because I was sure he had addressed it somewhere! He was such a big help to everyone. My condolences to his family, also. God bless you, "Gonefishin"!

Peace, serenity, love and light onto a wonderful, generous man and mentor to many. Thank you Bill.

If no one has printed and sent these messages via regular mail to his address, I would take pride in doing so to show his family and respect to him for all he has give to us.

Please please...I don't have a printer or I would do it and I think it would mean so much for them to know how much we all cared about him and valued his friendship...Thank you purplemage

this surfaced about 5-6 weeks ago in the allium forum. i did a search and saw bill was posting in mid february. as this was around mid march iirc, i figured bill was still around here. i sent him an email but never did receive a reply. i thought that perhaps he used a different email address and never saw it, so i hoped he was still around. like peggy said, i'd hoped to see him post in this thread that he was still out there.

i really liked bill, he was a gentle man and a gentleman. i looked forwards to reading his posts and will miss him.

tom

If anyone is printing and sending these messages to his family, there's another thread about Bill in the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum, here:

Gonefishin

I'd guess there are also threads in the other forums where Bill regularly posted. Perhaps someone could do a search for them, and provide links from here?

All the best,
-Patrick

Here is a link that might be useful: SC&M forum thread: Gonefishin

Yes, please post links on other threads and I will also do a search, print the messages and snail mail them to his address above.

I remember him.

I hope his family is doing well. May peace be with them. And I hope his grandkids keep the garden going.

I am bumping this message to the top again. I will print and send all notes the beginning of next week.

I avoided this post for days because I thought it was old board friends catching up with each other.

Now that I actually read it and who it's about...

:(

Never knew him or wrote him, but I read enough of his stuff to know I'll miss it.

Purplemage,

There is a thread in the tomato forum, too.

I learned from many of his posts also in the several months of reading GW. His knowledge and kind words were appreciated my many. My sympathy to his family and friends.

Here is a link that might be useful: tomato forum

bumping this thread one last time...

I'll miss you, Gonefishin.

I was also a Gonefishin' fan. I really enjoyed the wealth of information he offered on these forums. Such a nice gentleman, and it wasn't hard at all to detect in his postings. I learned so much from him and his love for gardening and I will truly miss him here. Loved his stories and awesome pictures! He was such a delight and a truly respectable and very likeable man.

I will miss you too, Mr. Gonefishin'.

Christina

He will be sorely missed. My sympathies for his family. Barb

thanks for the additional links to threads.

I too enjoyed and used his knowledge.. I think the word used by a poster to describe him fits: Gentle.

I have printed threads from numerous forums here at Gardenweb, regarding Gonefishin (Bill P.) and have prepared to send them to his home address by this Monday with a card explaining what is enclosed in the package. I will include my contact information should his family wish to respond and will keep the Gardenweb community posted if there is a response.

Thanks to all of you who have posted links to threads and offered your kind words...

seen a markee in St. Louis today

HIPOINTE gone fishing HIPOINTE
see you soon

Made me think of him.

CrAzY LaRrY

Purplemage, thank you so much for doing that, it's very kind of you.

Bill was an inspiration to me. His friendly posts, illustrated with beautiful photos were the next best thing to being there with him in his garden, learning from him how to nurture the veggies. I'll never forget that photo of the big radishes with the golf ball. His enjoyment of gardening, not to mention consuming the delicious harvest, came through loud and clear.

I especially enjoyed the discussions of okra and cowpeas, two crops which are not commonly grown where I live, but which he and I and a number of others liked a lot. The discussions always got lively when those topics came up and I learned much.

Well, there is a bit of a void here now. I'll remember Bill when I'm out caring for my garden, trying to grow it like he did, healthy and lush.

Jim

I can't believe what I'm reading... :(

It's been a few years since I've posted here and I remember gonefishin very well. I had just started my very first veggie garden back then and he was so helpful with giving advice and encouragement to me. I've moved back to an apartment since then (I used to live in a rental house w/the veggie garden) and just got the bug to grow something again when I happened across this thread. His knowledge is invaluable and I'm quite thankful that he contributed so much to this site during the time he was with us.

I remember when I grew sweet potatoes for the first time a while back. I told him I was going to bake him a pie. I think I sent him a picture instead for laughs...we did have a good laugh about that! Now I know I'll have to find a way to grow some sweet potatoes this year in his honor.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family...I will indeed miss him...

If he was a gardener, he was a good guy! Never met a gardener i didn't like :) Good luck up there buddy. Hopefully future gardeners can learn from his past posts.

I really wish I could have known him... he must have been a really great guy to touch so many people so deeply.
I am looking up all of his old posts now.

I haven't been here in a year or so and I was thinking hmmm its spring, time for my old buddy to be talking gardening and offering up some tips, so I came looking for him!! I couldn't find any of his posts so I looked back a couple of pages and saw this thread......I'm greatly saddened by this news.
We would correspond often through email, I was a newbie and he took the time to teach me sooooooooooo much about gardening, He was a sage and i'll never forget him, bless his heart!!

See ya in heaven someday Bill my garden buddy!
Love Wendey

To all:
Yes, my ex father-in-law (Gonefishin) Bill Pelham went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, March 2, 2008. Even though his son and I were divorced, Bill treated me really good. If anyone of you know his home e-mail address, his wife, Lillian, still checks his e-mail and I am sure she would love to here for you (the last one I had was 1bill@cebridge.net). She had a stroke about 17 years ago and pretty much stays in the house. I also hope that BillÂs sons and/or grandsons are keeping up the Garden for Bill Sr and Lillian. Thank you all for your prayers.

I'm so glad you posted...I think we all knew his health wasn't great but a real shock not to have him with us any more...I think you can tell by the posts on this thread and others on the Garden Web how much we cared about him...

I bet he is cracking them up and giving great gardening advice up there.

My thoughts and prayers to his family.

Steve

Just wanted to let you all know that on Saturday, May 3rd I sent out copies of our comments here and in other forums, to Bill's home address. They were delivered on Monday May 5th to his address.

Thank you vicki145 for posting your comments here.