R.I.P Bill Schepker
Yesterday, shortly after leaving one of my best friend’s wedding ceremony, I received a call from a family member letting me know my grandfather had suffered an aneurysm and had been placed on life support at SLUH. I rushed down to visit this morning, and learned he was on life support, but his brain was largely dead and at this point there was little chance for recovery. So, after everyone from the family came by to give their final respects, he was taken off life support and passed away shortly after. 
Bill was a great guy, the kind of person who drew people to him. His laugh was heartwarming, and whenever you saw him he was always laughing or telling a funny joke… not a mean bone in his body. He never let anything drag him down, and the lives he touched will never be forgotten. If there is any memory I will remember of him, it won’t be of him laying lifeless on the hospital bed with machines pumping air in and out of his lungs, it will be of him enjoying a Busch beer, playing Garth Brooke’s “I Got Friends in Low Places” and laughing non stop. 
I love you grandpa, and you will be missed.
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August 26th, 2007 at 4:54 am
I’m sorry to hear that. My condolences.
August 26th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
You don’t know me, but please accept my condolences on your loss. I caught your post through javablogs.com’s feed and it hit home since my Grandmother passed away the weekend before last with basically the same scenario. In her case she passed before the life support was removed, which I am somewhat thankful for - my Grandfather didn’t have to make the decision. I arrived at the hospital as the helicopter carrying her landed (I was at a client near the hospital when I got the call on Friday afternoon) and by the time I actually got to go in to see her she was a shell of herself, basically gone already, but with the machinery keeping her ‘alive’. That’s certainly not the way I will remember her either - more of the pushy old Hungarian lady who could cook like nobody’s business and loved her great grandchildren more than anything on earth. Anyways, please accept my deepest sympathies for your loss.
September 9th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Thanks all for the condolences. On the bright side, everything has been upbeat since, rather than the sulking that most people do in the aftermath of a loved ones passing.
Just got to remember to laugh and enjoy life, much like my grandfather did.