Thank you Frank for the suggestion. I just spoke to Al Babik who also wanted to do something like this. I too had been thinking along these lines.

So I will be sending a large wreath to the wake / funeral with the following message:

"Our deepest condolences from the members of the CTZCC"

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

Excellent Ross, thank you. Please allow me to contribute something to the Club Kitty to help cover that? It would make me feel better if I am able to do some direct little thing to commemorate our friend.

I can only imagine how the rest of the ZCCNE must feel about this. Rochester lost Jonathan Krenzler, New York lost Tommy Sullivan and his girls, we lost Colin Foot and nearly lost Liam Dwyer, and now New England has lost Bill. Our grief just proves there are no 'little' members in any club.

To quote Paul Mackin in RI: "Z Lives Matter".

Thank you very much for the offer Frank but the club still has funds and we are therefore no longer accepting donations.

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

Well if there is anything we can do, or not, our Z Hearts are there. Patti and I will be there for you Bill, the more Z's the better, I'm sure that's one thing he would want.

Some of us are driving our Zs up to Sprngfld to Bill's wake and to express our condolences to his family. I am sure the ZCCNE will be there in force and we'll appreciate as many CTZCC members as we can muster there. Hours begin at 4pm and let out at 7pm but nobody has to stay that long if they have other things to do.

Frank

I'm proud to report 9 CTZCC members and wives gathered together in Springfield today to say goodbye to our Z buddy Bill Moreau. Our Club's floral arrangement was prominent beside Bill's casket and we were proud to introduce ourselves to Bill's family as being from the CTZCC. More than 200 people signed-in on the guestbook; John Kish and I were the first two visitors into the bldg nearly 45 minutes before anyone else began showing up. We were soon joined by Big Al and the Fair Miss Rene, Paul and Patty (all the way from Rhode Island), Gary and Janet Tylinski, and Al Dempsey. I was proud that our ladies shed real tears for our friend Bill and his family.

it's surpriZing that you can know someone for 8 years (Bill joined us in Summer 2009) and still learn 100 things about them at a single 4hr wake. Bill Moreau was a remarkable man with many facets to his life. Twelve members of his direct family greeted visitors and treated each of us with class and inner strength.
There was a video montage of Bill's life from birth to recent days, and a reel of his favorite music (mostly Rock n Roll) gave everyone some insight into his vintage tastes.

Bill's immaculate blue 280Z was parked under the big portico just outside the entrance for all to see as they entered and left. It struck me as I approached it from the parking lot; his famous license plate "Zzzzzya" seemed suddenly prophetic. I grabbed a picture of Big Al standing beside the car as we left (he, Paul, Gary and Bill have put on a LOT of cross-country miles together over the years), then we drove a slow procession past Bill's parked 280, parading all our CTZCC cars respectfully under the front portico to say goodbye. Young women (names unknown) came out into the lot to photograph us as we spontaneously fell into line door-to-door in the big parking lot and sat there with just our parking lamps on at dusk. I was actually moved by that, and it made me proud of this Club yet again.

Bill's funeral procession will begin at 10am tomorrow, leaving from the funeral home. I suspect (don't know) that the ZCCNE will generate a Z procession behind the hearse. Maybe some of our members will be there to escort Bill to rest?

I spoke with Bill's family and told them our Club has 9 years of photos of Bill's activities with the CTZCC which they have never seen. They asked if we might compile them onto a DVD for them all to enjoy? I think that's a capital idea and wonder if someone computer-savvy might volunteer to be a collector to receive pictures of Bill from any of our members having them, and put them on a disc for the Moreau family? They gave me an address to send a disc if we can gather them together in one place.

Bill succumbed to a rare and little-known cancer called AmyLoidosis (Amee.Lowee.DOH.sis), which can attack various organs including the heart/lungs. AL needs far more research. Contribution envelopes were available at Bill's wake; anyone wishing to contribute to AL research in Bill's name can send a check to AL Foundation, 7151 N. Main St, Ste2, Clarkson, MI 48346. You can see their website and annual report here:
http://4389bn3wyeoif3tav40ku9a1.wpengin ... Report.pdf

Farewell, Bill Moreau, and thanks for the miles; I know we'll all ZzzzYa further on down the road.
Frank

3 CTZCC Zs from CT/RI will be present for the last ride. Mayhaps there are others we are unaware of?
Al

Just catching up on CTZCC web site and read this very sad news. Bill was really friendly and amazingly enthusiastic. Our
Condolences to Bill's family, friends and the Z community.
Colin
&
Colin

Frank,

Thank you for your wonderful write up on Bill's wake for those of us who could not attend. Also, thanks to you and the others from the club for representing the CTZCC.

I am still heartbroken over this loss.

Sincerely,

Ross

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

Thank you, Ross. Karl had also hoped to make the trip up with us, but at the last moment he got a phonecall demanding his attendance to a family matter.

But it wasn't all doom-and-gloom. We had enough CTZCC members there so it made the largest 'Club meeting' I've had all year. It was good to talk with some other Clubbies. We actually shared a few laughs and Al Dempsey completely captivated us with trivia from the 1950s. The man has a memory like flypaper ~ everything sticks and nothing escapes. And Big Al found a lady's ring lying on the carpet and gave it to Bill's family, who will surely be able to find the owner, who will be grateful to the civic-minded and ever-helpful CTZCC.

We made a positive and respectful exit and tribute to Bill with our Zs which was noted and filmed on 27 8x10 color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back to be used as evidence against us. AND we all had a good Z-ride together from Springfield to Hartford, where our seven-Z procession split in half and went separate ways. The ride up was rather dreadful in the 89* heat and high humidity, but John's Z and mine ran perfectly and we got a lot of recognition from other drivers. The ride home was much cooler and I can still hear our exhaust notes in my ears.

Al, how did the funeral procession go this morning? Did John Jefferies lead it? Many cars?

The procession went well. Aside from Bill's beautiful 280, Gary and Janet were present in his 300 twin turbo (Memphis ZCON) along w/ Paul and myself in our s30s.
Military funeral complete with 3 round salute, Taps and folding of the American flag for presentation to Bill's eldest son. For me, this was the hardest part of the entire affair.
Nice reception followed at a local Italian restaurant. It came out in Bill's eulogy (deftly handled by his eldest son) the Bill's favorite drink is a black Russian; the bartenders could not make them fast enough...
No sign of Jeffries or any other ZCCNE members.
That is all.

Al

Seriously? This can't be true.

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

["Seriously? This can't be true"].

It can be.

Jeffries works some weird job which takes him all around the globe, often to totally primitive places where he is completely out of Comm with the States. I suspect there is actually some chance he doesn't even know about this yet. I learned about that some years ago when I was trying to get ahold of him in a hurry for a member (Dan Linquist, maybe?) who needed some Z thing from John's BadDogParts catalog.

There were a few ZCCNE members at the wake, but nobody I knew personally. Maybe they could make the wake after work, but not the funeral during working hours? They aren't as numerous as we are in the first place, and they're scattered over a larger area, so maybe the numbers of those available were smaller than even they would have liked. I'm very happy we were represented as a Club by our steadfast members. Thanks, guys and gals.

Still.......if only a few of y'all show up for my funeral, I'm gonna be really torqued. I won't care about your excuse.

Al, I've attended too many military funerals, and held up well until the flag was handed to the widow. Don't feel bad, bro.

Well it looks like the answer was that there were some NEZCC members in attendance. So that makes me feel better. He was such an integral part of that club and many of those guys new him longer than we have.

I wish I could have been present but it simply was not possible.

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

To all CTZCC members, especially those who knew and remember Bill Moreau.

If you plan to donate to the Amyloidosis Foundation in Bill's name you will need to provide an address so the recipient can inform Bill's family. I have that address and will provide it to CTZCC members via PM "private message".

Alan