Bill Ray Scales...

Another that has been building...first reading a post by my cousin Jody of the loss of one of our own...then the other day a song...today a picture appears as it was the memorial for Bill Ray Scales...Bill Ray was what I always heard him called...I think because of many Bill's in the family...though I don't know if that is the case.

Bill Ray was the son of my Grandma Bessie's brother, Lem.   And also a light in the eye of his mother Aunt Bert...a pair forever etched in my heart...The picture I seen today and I share was Bill Ray as a young man...and with it the wife of his nephew shares:

Today we say goodbye to Mark's Uncle Bill. He was a wonderful man who lived a good life and overcame many obstacles. He contracted polio when he was 18 and lost the use of his lower body but that never stopped him from accomplishing his goals. He was inspiring and amazing. In the 5 years I knew him, I never once heard him complain. RIP Uncle Bill. #TBT

I look at his picture and I reflect on though he was one of the family's celebrities almost...I thought how little I really knew of him...I remember  him in a wheel chair. put there by polio..I remember my mom loved and enjoyed him and going to Emporia after the tornado and he telling of going through it in his car...and I had thought how brave he was...I remember it seems that same trip going to his and his wife Kathy's place and I remember music...of my mom being happy there...I am not sure the year and if it is in fact a collage of memories that I put into one visit. 

But as time goes on...I did not know Bill or see him as I got older and so I do what I do and I Google as I remember thinking there was a story written that he was in and I remembered he went to school in Emporia, KS...and so I find the article...and another handsome picture...making me think of the movie stars of that day...I remember he had a beautiful smile...and such an upbeat energy about him.   But I read in the article a little more of Bill Scales...This picture I "borrow" from the Emporia State University Spotlight... http://www.emporia.edu/dotAsset/910b718b-7bed-416d-9333-c72f67fcb7f0.pdf 

"The vision carried over to the students. Scales (BSE 1959, MS 1962) was active in disability issues as a student, then he became ESU’s coordinator of  services, and eventually became the director of disability

services at the University of Maryland in College Park."

I read how his way to access places in the college was to be carried by football players...and I wonder about more of what this story entails and I will have to talk to his sister some time and learn more...Bonnie...another amazing woman in her own right...and I know her heart must be heavy...and I send love and prayers and think of my other morning thinking of Bill...of Bonnie...of Vicki Jo a younger sister...And I find another picture of him with Vicki Jo...and I think of all the love this family shares...

I think of all the odds Bill Ray went up against in his life...he comes from tough stock and lived I am sure much longer than what many might have thought...and was an inspiration to so many...he was one who had a "disability" and instead of thinking poor me...he did things to make it better for others...I find an editorial to the same Emporia State newsletter...one that gave me a little more glimpse into the life of this one special man...

Responses to “A Promise of Accessibility”

I was delighted to see in

“Promise of Accessibility”

an old mentor, friend and

colleague, Dr. Bill Scales,

among those credited for

ESU’s richly deserved national

reputation as an accessible

campus. An inspiration to

ESU students with special

needs, Bill was a singular

force in the professional

development of this writer

and many others…. Few will

ever forget the boundless

enthusiasm, infectious laugh

and constant encouragement

that emanated from Bill as he

rolled in, around, up down

and throughout the campus….

To know and work with Bill

quite literally transported

those around him to a new

understanding of the disabled,

indeed of the very term itself….

Scales was an integral part

of the reason so many KSTC

graduates completed doctoral

degrees and had their own

highly successful careers in

higher education. No doubt I

speak for literally hundreds

when I say,

 

“Thank you, Bill,

for not only challenging each

of us to redefine ourselves and

what we might become, but for

the profoundly brave, warm

and supportive manner in

which you did it.”

 

- Gary G. Peer, Ed. D. (MS

1967), Stephenville, Texas

And I felt like those words gave just another glimpse and I think back to the other day as I showered and a song began to almost haunt me...and I then began to think of Bill...the song by Eva Cassidy kept playing in my head and I continued to almost feel a part of this man that had touched many...I think the part of walking in fields of gold...though I thought he must be running!

 I have had special pictures come to me that seem to be a picture for a special one that is no longer with us in body...and I think of the words of Bill Ray's niece Jody Rae..."Uncle Bill had a profound impact on my life. He was my friend, a confidant, and while I will miss him, I will never forget him."

And so I return to my picture...these sunflowers caught my eye today as I went and grained calves for the shepherd...and of course my camera with me.   Before I went to leave...a butterfly landed on it...Sunflowers...what more could a Kansas boy be remembered by...who ran the race with dignity and joy...thankful for those who come through our lives that inspire us to be more...Thank you Bill!

lyp