Bill Everitt was born William Arthur Everitt in Leicester in 1925 and grew up in Evington with his very dear sister Jessie, children of Grace Everitt who was known in the family as a benign and caring matriarch.
He attended grammar school and became a very keen gymnast, swimmer and diver.
He was in the Navy during the war and met Vera Hill (our Mum) during that time.
After getting married and living in Swansea he entered the printing profession in Leicester.
At a school reunion he noted that all his school colleagues had become bank managers and company directors, but he wasn’t ambitious in the same way, and instead put his energy into education and progressing the technology of typography and printing - bringing into this country what were then among the very first computers in the industry.
In fact, he was at the forefront of the use of computing in the printing industry and made machines that weren’t designed to connect, talk to each other. He retained an interest in computing until the end - he was always tinkering, and could never be satisfied with the default settings!
He showed a great interest in practically everything and was always keen to learn, giving this back to society through his work with with young people in education. This support sometimes went beyond teaching, and he was often approached by students with their problems, and was known to take people under his wing.
He always felt responsible for everyone and everything to the point of vowing to be there for one particular person, who in turn became a companion and great support - especially in recent times - and who has now become a valued family friend.
He was a good source for technical advice and had a great depth of general knowledge. In fact, he was very thorough, and knew how to get the most effective services for everything from insurance to motor services, and where to look for almost any scrap of information. He thought that there was hardly anything you could not do for yourself - and in anything to which he turned his hand he endeavoured to do it ‘properly’ and thoroughly. He had high standards, and constantly expanded his mind by learning something new - he had a passion for learning and a real thirst for knowledge.
His range of interests was impressive - he had an opinion on almost everything from history and politics to personal and social issues, and in some areas, he displayed a great deal of wisdom, which was valued by a wide circle of friends.
He was always the ‘Trivial Pursuits’ champion, and played backgammon in an unorthodox way that proved to be impossibly successful - he was very hard to beat. Although, when playing against the computer, he always claimed that it threw what it wanted when he was about to win!
On the other hand he was also an ‘overgrown schoolboy’ and many photos show the silly and naughty side to his character:
I know there are a few stories of his escapades, so here’s one example.
While in the printing industry, he asked his colleagues one day ‘have you ever seen this before?’, then put an empty can with a little water on the gas ring. This was supposed to result in the collapse of the can, but unknown to him it had contained a volatile liquid and sent out an arc of flame that went clear to the ceiling and right over the top of the printing press!
In fact, he had a few lucky escapes, and was generally lucky - he would sometimes walk up to a slot machine, casually enter a coin just for fun, press the handle and walk away, only to appear surprised at the resulting cascade of coins; although he later claimed that - through observation - he’d silently worked out something of the machine’s sequence! But on the whole, he did appear to be luckier than average, although we now suspect there was some intelligence working behind the scenes to bring about this apparent luck!
He was also a keen tennis player and an influential member of Oadby (Granville) Tennis club where he played in teams, held positions of responsibilty and even helped develop the club logo.
Although he suffered a stroke nearly 30 years ago he fought back, not letting on about some of the aches and pains he was suffering as a consequence.
In later years he did not want to succumb to old age, and put his medical problems to one side, caring for Vera at home as long as he was able.
He researched a vast amount of information for the family tree which he was continually expanding through minute and patient lines of inquiry (and we are now finding that project a good home), in fact family parties and gatherings were always dear to his heart.
He made a deep impression on all his family and friends, and - I think - will never be forgotten by any of us here today, and certainly many more besides.
QUOTES:
He was a very good friend and a decent bloke.
Kind and thoughtful, he thought a lot about other people apart from himself. And I’d never known him to get angry.
I’ve never known Bill to be in a bad mood, except once when he ran out of cigarettes when we were crossing the top of a pass in the Lake district…
A very good husband and a good man - I enjoyed his company and we got on well together - we had a good rapport.
He always helped me, and I felt he always did understand.
We never really fell out, and were always able to work through problems together - we could sort things out openly by talking them through.
In fact, his wife Vera sometimes called him ‘William the Great’!