Remembering Bill Eddy
William “Bill” Milton Eddy was born on October 14, 1926. He passed from this world on May 22, 2021 leaving a legacy of service, love, family, and adventure. This site is a tribute to his story.
Below you will find Bill’s obituary. Bill also wrote an autobiography by hand. You can read it (and even comment) on this Google Doc:
Obituary
Bill was born in Carthage, Missouri on October 14, 1926. His family moved to Tulsa, OK., where he grew up and graduated from Tulsa Central High School. He came to the Lord at a young age when a friend invited him to go to church, and gave himself to serving the Lord, wholeheartedly. At 18 he was enlisted into the U.S. Army Air Corp where he served as a radioman in the Philippines at the end of
WWII.
He used his GI Bill to attend Baylor University, then went on to, Spartan School of Aeronautics, for his A&P License. He loved planes from the time he could talk, even getting odd jobs after school in order to pay for flying lessons. This love of flying lead him to want to use it to serve the Lord in reaching others for Christ.
On a cross-country motorcycle trip, he heard that Wycliffe Bible Translators was looking for pilots. It was the beginning of his greatest adventure ever!
He met Maxine Vernulda Lewis, in Denver, CO., while helping take care of his Uncle Nip, who had heart surgery. Maxine was his Uncle’s nurse and as Bill would say, “My Uncle’s heart got better, but mine fell apart”. They attended Prairie Bible Institute, were accepted by Wycliffe and wed on Sept. 24, 1954.
Then it was off to jungle training in Mexico and Spanish language training, in Peru, with their first daughter, Marjorie, in tow. While in Peru, Ruth, was born.
In 1957, with little Marjorie and Ruth cradled in a suitcase, in the back of a single-engine floatplane and Bill at the controls, they were off to what was to become their jungle home, Limoncocha, in Ecuador. Soon followed two more daughters, Mary and Alice.
Bill kept busy with flying and doing airplane maintenance until the family moved to Quito in 1969. He took the role as Government Relations with the Ecuadorian government and the Instituto Linguistico de Verano. Bill’s love of people gave him lifelong friendships that were instrumental in securing land protection rights from the President of Ecuador, for the Secoya and Cofan Indians. In 1984, Bill helped form OATB, an Ecuadorian organization that could
continue the work of Bible Translation.
When Maxine’s health deteriorated, they moved back to Tulsa, OK. and then settled in Dallas at the Wycliffe Center to help with recruitment. In 1991, Maxine preceded Bill to heaven and he returned to Tulsa. He married Carolyn West on March 12, 1994, and when she passed a year later, he returned to Dallas to continue helping in the recruitment office until he retired in 2001. He stayed
active with travel to see family and friends for many years. At 94 years young, he went to be with the Lord.
Bill is survived by his daughters, Marjorie Pals, Ruth Solow, Mary Arnold, Alice Gray, their spouses, 10 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.
Photos
1973 Sept – Bill Eddy with Dayuma explaining something to the visiting Military officials, Rachel Saint 
1971 Sept – Bill Eddy holding recorder used on flight over Aucas; Kimo, Catherine Peeke, Vergil Gotfried 
1965 – Bill Eddy with Auca killer, Gikita, holding Auca spears 
1955 – Maxine and Bill Eddy with their Crosley packed full and Maxine expecting baby Marjorie, visiting James and Ethel Scott in St. Louis, MO. Ironing board is tied on top; it had to be cut in half to fit in barrels going to Peru, and then re-welded after arrival there. “Shipped all belongings to Peru March 12th 1956 – 9 steel barrels and one large wooden crate weighed 1,950 lbs. Included among the articles were four-dozen toothbrushes and 100 bars of floating soap (We’ll be bathing in the lake). May 14 was set as our departure date to leave Tulsa for Peru. Maxine and Marjorie left by train last night for Miami. There they will board a DC-6 for Lima.” 
1973 – Ford Torino, donated by Tulsa Bible Church as their grand missions project last year, took us many miles exploring the Andes countryside of Ecuador including Mt. Cotopaxi, an active volcano; March 26, 1978 – “It was hard to get up this morning. I was stiff. Yesterday I climbed higher on a mountain than I have ever climbed before. I went to the snow line on Mt. Cotopaxi which is 16,000 foot level. The top of that peak is another 3,000 feet above, but it is all snow. And it is steeper. Actually I didn’t work as hard as it may seem, because there is a road to the 15,000 foot level. So I only walked the last 1,000 feet. But it was very steep and the trail was covered with very loose sand making it hard to find traction for the feet. The view was spectacular, and the ice formations up there were very interesting. Maxine had stayed below guarding our camp where we had spent the night before with Peter and Peggy Whyte from Rhodesia.” – Bill Eddy – Casilla 5080 Quito, Ecuador 
1970 – Our family at the Mitad del Mundo – Equator Monument outside Quito, Ecuador 
1974 – Bill sharing a New Testament ; our home in back 
April 28,1974 – “I asked for a return to DC-3 work and I am enjoying it immensely. Don Johnson will be here next week to take Public Relations.” – Bill – Casilla 5080 Quito, Ecuador; Time to check engine on the Tariri DC-3; Bud Woods and Bill Eddy 
1963 March 23 “A couple of weeks ago I received a request from our branch in Peru, via ham radio, that I come to Yarinacocha to inspect a Catalina amphibious flying boat that they have recently re-built. Since I am the only one holding a US Federal Aviation Authority inspector’s authorization in this part of South America they had no choice.” – Bill – 
1968 July – Grandpa Eddy hooking up his boat to go fishing, Tulsa, OK 
1968 Nov – Dad took Marjorie, Alice, Mary and Ruth to Washington D.C. for a missions conference. ” I had a very good week the 22nd through 28th in Washington, D.C. I took all four of the girls with me. Their school principal assured me that they would profit more from that than by staying in Waxhaw. My purpose for going was to speak at a Missionary Conference at the Cherrydale Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia. We stayed in the home of Bob and Sarah Compton who attend the church. They live in Falls Church where Janice used to live. ” – Bill – Nov 2, 1968 
1967 Dec – Bill was shopping for a new camera 
1960 – Bill Eddy and Rogelio Rohn and brother that had come over from their Hacienda Providencia on the Napo River. (Tiger Lillies in background, bordered the Eddy’s yard.) 
1963 – Bill Eddy pouring fuel into one of the Helio wings-all the fuel had to be filtered through a chamois skin liner inside the filter. This was to remove water as well as sediment from the aircraft fuel. 
1960 – Bill Eddy and George DeVoucalla working on overhauling airplane engine “I’ve really been cranking out the work lately. Last month we flew 115 hours. Our normal month is 60, so we put out about double. For every flying hour two hours of maintenance are required, and I am responsible for all the maintenance. The month before was 90 hours. The reason for the increase is that the local Ecuadorean airlines have been losing planes and pilots. This has driven both military and civilians to us with flight requests, and we still haven’t been able to keep up. ” – Bill – 1963 May 18 
1964 – Bill Eddy saying bye to the Zanders as they fly to Colombia in this Aeronca Sedan float plane. 
1981 Marj & Jeff Pals visit to Ecuador 
1971 – Bill and Maxine Eddy 
1968 Jul – Flying in the DC-3; Jim Miller talking to Dad over the loud noise of the propellors 
1968 Jul – Bill Eddy installing a new cargo door on the “Mary Lynn” Helio destined for Colombia, S.A. while at the JAARS Center in Waxhaw, NC “For the past week I have been overhauling my Rambler engine, clutch and transmission. I had the help of one of our men who is an auto mechanic and has spent the past five years in New Guinea. Now the car runs fine. The $111.00 which I spent for parts will not be regained by me in service so much as by some other member of our group to whom I will sell it.” – Bill Eddy, 26 Jan 1969, Waxhaw, NC 
1969 May – Easter in North Carolina; We learned that a new dress was common for Easter, so we are all dressed up in our new outfits. ” We also enjoy watching “Gentle Ben’ on Sunday nights.” – Bill – 1969 Jan 26 
4 Generations of Eddy men; Bill Eddy is baby 
Bill Eddy as an infant? 
Betty, Bill and Janice Eddy 
Bill, Betty and Janice Eddy 
Bill Eddy as a teen, creating model airplanes, Tulsa, OK 
1969 – Eddy family portrait including “Champ”, our pet ocelot; Waxhaw, N.C. 
Eddy family in Quito 1970 
Bill and Maxine Eddy with sick Indian baby that had been flown to Quito for medical help. 
1964 April – Foggy morning in Limoncocha – Eddy House ” Our Easter Sunrise Service was held in our yard as usual (we have the nicest view of any house on the base) at 6:15am. It was good to transport ourselves for thirty minutes to that dawn when the empty tomb was discovered. Marjorie and Ruth sang with the school children accompanied by the little folding organ set up on our lawn. Lois Pederson, Maxine’s replacement nurse, is our accompaniest.” – Bill – April 15, 1964 
1964 – Eddy family at church in Limoncocha “As I write this there are four little dresses being slipped on, and four pairs of Sunday go-to-meetin’ shoes and sox being pulled on. Four blonde heads are being combed and four little pairs of ears listen intently as mother states, ‘Now be careful of your clothes and stay looking nice. You will leave for Sunday School in five minutes.’ Five minutes is a long time to stay looking nice, especially for Alice and Mary and sometimes they have to be overhauled before they finally leave the house. But they look fowrd to it all week and enjoy it immensely. ” – Bill – 1962 Nov 11 Limoncocha 
1962 Nov 11 – “I am superintendent of our Sunday School and I enjoy it immensely….” – Bill – Bill Eddy carrying flannel board to church. 
Walking to church at Limoncocha “Since Don Johnson became our director and went to Quito, I have been asked to be base supervisor. Our flying has dropped off some, so I asked to be relieved of my aviation responsibilities to concentrate on the other work temporarily. I have the entire base to oversee, plus the diesel-electric operation and maintenance (the small plants that the linquists take to the tribe with them), and the outboard motor maintenance. Don Smith & Forrey Zander will handle the aviation.” – Bill Eddy, Quito, Aug 2, 1960 – “On Sunday afternoon we have been going for strolls and lately we have been taking our butterfly net along together with a wide-mouth jar. We’ve captured quite a few pretty ones and we’re just getting started. The girls watch carefully for them as we walk along, and they are quick to tell me when they see one. They never take their eyes off me while I’m stalking a butterfly and when he’s finally captured they shout with glee….” – Bill – 1962 Nov 11 
1963 March – Mr. Ildefonso Munoz, Maxine Eddy, by large boa constrictor the Indians brought from the pasture. It had been strangling calves. A cage was made to contain the boa, but it burst the sides and was gone the next morning. “Maxine has had a hard week. Three Indian patients of hers have died. Measels has been partly reponsible along with grippe and mal-nutrition. Sure is hard.” – Bill – Limoncocha, Mar 6, 1960 
1972 – Maxine & Bill next to a poinsetta “tree” 
1968 Jan 14 – “Champ’ has had his nightly play after supper. He loves to chase, of all things, a potato all over the room. Then he eats it and climbs into a certain chair, washes himself meticulously and then dozes. This every night. ” – Bill Eddy – 
1962 – Eating together around Grandma and Grandpa Eddy’s table in Tulsa, OK 
1962 – Sitting on the tailgate of the Plymouth station wagon; L-R: Ruth, Marjorie, Mary, Alice 
1962 Jan – Holding hands around the dinner table as we get ready to pray together over the meal. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 
1962 Jan – L-R: Alice, Mary, Ruth, Marjorie; Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 
1965 JAARS Pilots at Limoncocha; L-R: Ron Ehrenberg , Forrest Zander, George Fletcher, George Devoucalla (making funny jesture) above Don Smith, Bill Eddy April 15, 1964 “I just welcomed a new pilot-mechanic to Ecuador. George and Dorothy Devoucalla just arrived last week. He went to Spartan and they are partly supported by the Tulsa Bible Church just as we are. What a relief to have them. He is quite a professional photographer and artist too. He was born and raised in Greece.” – Bill – 
1962 – Bill and Maxine Eddy with a local Catholic Priest, Padre Agustin,that was visiting Limoncocha. 
1962 Dec – Maxine checking patient out that was just flown in to the base, as he describes to her what happened and she decides the next step. “Maxine is over sewing up a fellow’s arm so I’m baby sitting. She gets occasional machete wounds. This is a stranger who just arrived on the base from up river. He’s a millwright from St. Joe, MO who likes to get out and see the world. He came down the Napo by canoe. Said they haven’t made much mill machinery for Pillsbury. Tomorrow she gives everyone on the base smallpox vaccinations. There’s an epidemic reported coming up river. So she’ll be in the clinic most of the day. I’ll have to plan on taking the kids with me to the new house to ‘help me’ work.” – Bill Eddy, Limoncocha, May 22, 1960 – 
Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939; 501 W York, Enid, OK; 4 Generations Eddys 
