Comments on: RIP AzBill

by: Austin

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:35:07 +0000

Steve, what was his involvement with Young Life? We had talked about it once when he noticed a hat i was wearing, but I never got his full story about it.

by: Steve Pickard

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:40:18 +0000

What a sad ending to a gifted, talented, entertaining friend. I went to Junior High with Bill and we were reacquainted in 1988 through our involvement with Young Life. Many times when he would come to Wichita to visit his mother, we would get together and he would entertain me with stories of the Livermore Lab, or Young Life’s Woodleaf Camp, or his baseball umpiring days….he loved throwing coaches out of the game…imagine that? I last saw him two years ago at his mother’s funeral…..wish I’d spent more time with him that day. I will miss you friend. Steve

by: Nancy

Mon, 26 May 2008 01:59:31 +0000

My e-mail is ndurbin70@hotmail.com. I would love to have any comments you might want to send.

by: Victor

Sun, 25 May 2008 04:25:53 +0000

Hi Nancy,
Thanks for the information. Do you have an email address you could share with us? I think some folks might prefer to send comments directly to you rather than post them here.
Victor

by: Nancy

Sun, 25 May 2008 01:39:32 +0000

Our service for Bill will be June 14th, in Severy Kansas.
He will be buried next to his mother and grandparents
If anyone would like to send any comment to be used at the
service fell free to send them to me. Thanks Nancy, cousin from Kansas

by: Nancy Durbin

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:19:57 +0000

I am a cousin from Kansas and wanted to thank all of you
for the wonderful comments you have made about Bill.
Could any of you give me a time line of Bills work at Global Center , GeoNet & iAaia Works? We would like to include his work in our service here in Kansas.

by: Paul Benjes

Wed, 21 May 2008 16:22:25 +0000

RIP Bill. I worked for Bill when he was the VP of Operations at Global Center. I kept in touch with him along with other of his direct reports throughout the year. Senseless loss of life.

You will be missed.

“Do or do not, there is no try” - Yoda
Paul Benjes

by: Ron Cortez

Sat, 17 May 2008 16:23:33 +0000

Thank you to all of you guys for coming to Bill’s wake last night. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many good friends Bill was able to keep close to him. I would have like to see Tingom there but I know that he was thinking about us. I hope he is having a good vacation. It was a great idea to bring Bill’s dog photo. I know that he would have enjoyed being there. Once again thanks to all of you.

by: Victor

Fri, 16 May 2008 20:36:21 +0000

FYI - For anyone attending Bill’s Irish wake tonight, you can tell the hostess at the Skepical Chymist you’re with either the “Todd Wellfelt Party”, or just tell them you there for “Bill McCauley’s Irish Wake”, and they’ll know where to direct you. 7:00PM

by: Bill and Ginger Sandweg

Fri, 16 May 2008 03:46:26 +0000

I’ll be there on Friday, and Copper Star Coffee will be happy to pitch in $50.00 in honour of our departed friend.

by: Jonathan Westbrook

Thu, 15 May 2008 18:01:42 +0000

I am stunned. I just got the info from some GlobalCenter/iAsiaWorks veterans. I met Bill when I was interviewed by him to go work at GlobalCenter back in 1999. He was indeed a gentleman, in every sense of the word. If he got angry, he got over it and found the solution. We both wound up at iAsiaWorks, and kept in touch after iAsiaWorks cratered. Unfortunately, the last email traffic I had from him was in 2005, where he caught up with me while I was deployed in the Middle East.

This is a sad, senseless loss. My condolences go out to the community there. I wish I could be at the Irish Wake, so please drink many for me.

Bill, I will find something Irish and drink to your memory on Friday = a fine gentlemen, a focused businessman… and a good man.

Godspeed my friend.
JW
916-826-6335

by: Nik

Thu, 15 May 2008 01:01:26 +0000

I knew Bill since his GeoNet days, and then worked with him at both GlobalCenter and iAsiaWorks.

He was one of the few people you could never get angry at, who always managed to stay positive. I tried to stay in touch with him over the years. News comes as a shock.

Condolences to his family and friends in Arizona.

by: Todd

Wed, 14 May 2008 23:15:28 +0000

OK - I have more detailed directions for those who want them:

101 to Frank Lloyd Wright
West on Frank Lloyd Wright 1 block to Hayden
Turn South on to Hayden (be in the left lane of the two left turning lanes)
Left at your first driveway (.1 miles - between Great Outdoor Kitchens and Big City Bagels)
Proceed through the first stop sign
Turn left at the second stop sign
Turn right at the first opportunity
Skeptical Chymist is on the right beside Rubios

by: David Holub

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:45:46 +0000

I knew Bill pretty well. Mostly as a colleague and friend between 1996 and 2000. We’d have dinners at our favorite steak house and drink lot’s of martinis and great wines. In for the millennium he joined me an about 60 other friends in renting an entire castle in Spain, one of the most memorable parties of all time. In 2000 and 2001 we worked together at iAsiaWorks. We lost touch not long after its devolution and his move to Phoenix. This has made me very sad. I was really looking forward to reconnecting with him. I recently got his contact info from John Russo. Its very hard to digest this… I’m thinking we should do a parallel event in the Bay Area. I think he’d like that.
–david

by: Joshua Morris

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:45:58 +0000

Thanks for making this happen.

by: steve kessler

Wed, 14 May 2008 05:10:38 +0000

Count me in. Thanks for getting this arranged.

by: Todd

Wed, 14 May 2008 05:05:27 +0000

I visited this place for the first time this evening to see if it would be a proper place for an Irish Wake. The place seemed very nice and had a great, relaxing vibe. The food looked pretty good and the Guinness was excellent.

The pub is nestled in a bunch of stores just off the 101 and Frank Lloyd Wright. It can be hard to find so I am going to swing by again tomorrow to get detailed directions to keep anyone from getting lost. It is located just next to Rubios across the parking lot from Best Buy and Staples. Better directions to come tomorrow.

I look forward to seeing many of you on Friday to hoist the beverage of your choice to the memory of one of our own - Bill McCauley.

If you have questions you can also contact me via PM, email, or at 480-200-5052.

by: Victor

Wed, 14 May 2008 04:39:58 +0000

Interesting to hear from you guys that worked in the tech industry with Bill. He was usually quiet about that part of his life, presumably so he could remain focused on the AZ Coffee industry.

Here are the details of the Irish Wake we’ll be having this Friday evening at 7:00PM at the Skeptical Chymist (it is a nice Irish Pub).

Location:
15688 N PIMA ROAD Suite #C6,
SCOTTSDALE, AZ. 85260.
(480) 609 8677

Web Site:
http://www.skepticalchymist.com/index.php

Roughly located at Frank Loyd Wright and the 101 freeway.

Regardless whether or not you’re Irish; dont drink alcohol: Whatever - they have coffee and tea also. It is a bit out of the way for many, I’m sure (including myself), but this seems to be a good place to pay our final respects to Bill. (Thanks to Oddley for scouting it out).

Please either post here if you think you might be going, or PM me directly, or drop me a line at 623 217 1304 so that we can update the reservation head count if need be.

Hope many of you can make it.

by: John Russo

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:16:43 +0000

After too many years, Bill and I finally connected and spent several hours on the phone and exchanging email the week before this happened. I had interested him in possibly returning to his roots in the technology world by helping me with a data center project here in California. He sent me one last email on Friday May 2nd as I was heading out the door to take my 2nd grader camping with his class for the weekend.

The message was about the coffee business and how we should talk more about it. I was rushing to get out the door, so my last words to him were ”

—————–
Bill,

Gotta bring my son on his second grade camping trip today.

Let’s pick this up on Monday.

John
————

My emails last week went unanswered, but I thought nothing of it - people get busy - I knew I had to give him a call and continue the discussion we had been having about data centers.

He was clearly excited about the idea, as this sign off of a fairly lengthy technical discussion would indicate:
——————
…This is all good. Lots of brain cells that haven’t
been touched in a while are coming back to life. I
like it.

Regards,

Bill
——————

And this one:

——————
Have thought of little else since our conversation.
This is exciting.

–Bill
————————-

Or this one:

————————-
GREAT catching up today. Very long overdue. The time
I was at GeoNet was enormous fun but a huge learning
experience.

Would be fun to be back in the Bay Area (I miss it
terribly, …) and involved in some
real technology again. I miss making the trains run
on time–that always seemed to be my role.

Once again, I enjoyed our conversation today very
much. Talk soon.

–Bill
—————————
He seemed upbeat and excited. I was completely blown away when I learned today of the reason my emails last week went unanswered.

All day I have been wandering around, wondering, was it something I said, or didn’t say…I am at a loss, this is such a colossal waste of talent not to mention the loss of a truly amiable and gentle man.

I first met Bill when I recruited him to come and work for me as VP of Engineering at GeoNet Communications. When the Company was sold to Level 3 Bill and I stayed in touch and I followed him as he moved to Global Crossing and then to Iasiaworks.

After that, I learned that he had moved to Arizona and I lost touch with him for a few years.

About 2 years ago, I was looking at some data center property in Arizona, and tried to contact Bill. About 6 months ago, I was finally successful, and only last week heard his voice again for the first time in so many years. It was wonderful catching up with him again.
I was really looking forward to reconnecting with Bill in person, either in Ca or AZ, and possibly working with him again on a new project.
I just can’t believe this has happened.

John Russo
415-922-1200

by: Dan

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:49:29 +0000

I have been working for Bill for the last 5 months, helping him with the online venture and the blog he was planning to start. He was intelligent, light-hearted, and an overall nice guy. I already miss him.

I like the idea of the Irish wake. You guys gotta fill me in on what you do at a wake (Although if the word Irish is in it I’m sure I get the idea)

by: Jim Lippard

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:10:17 +0000

I’m very sorry to hear about Bill’s death. I reported to Bill when he was VP of Operations for GlobalCenter, a webhosting company based in Sunnyvale. I last saw him in 2001 at a NANOG conference in Scottsdale, when he was working for iAsiaWorks. There are quite a few of us who know him from his technology work, and who are shocked and saddened by this news. My condolences to all who knew him.

by: Sean

Sun, 11 May 2008 23:55:01 +0000

We are on the opposite side of town, but do have barista positions open. Let me know…
Unlimited Coffee sounds like a good location for the wake. Bill has always held it in high regard.

by: Scott van Duyn

Sat, 10 May 2008 23:36:49 +0000

I think Unlimited Coffee would be the Ideal place for Bill’s wake. It’s centraly located close to where Bill called his home. Has a very laid back atmosphere and it’s also where Bill got a few of his ideas for the Daily Buzz.

by: Bob Guenthner

Sat, 10 May 2008 10:50:40 +0000

Please accept my apology for the emotion that came through in my earlier comments. I hope you can understand that Bill’s death and the circumstances surrounding it have been really upsetting to all of us in his family. What I meant to say and should have said more dispassionately is this:

I feel really bad for Michael, Carla and all of the other employees of Bill’s businesses. They have unexpectedly been left in a tough situation. The efforts of those of you who are trying to find employment for them is great. No one in the family is in any position to carry on either Red Rock Foods or the Buzz. Contrary to what was previously reported, I was not involved in any way in setting up the new business. And none of Red Rock’s actual inventory will to my knowledge pass to the new business.

That said, I wish Michael and his business partner much success in carrying on a business that continues service to Red Rock’s former customers.

There will not be a memorial service for Bill in the Phoenix area. The family is planning a graveside service for Bill at a later date in Severy, Kansas, where Bill will be buried beside his mother, who died two years ago.

Your idea of holding an Irish Wake for Bill is perfect. He would love it! I do hope that it comes about and that someone will post a description of it here.

Your warm comments about cousin Bill are much appreciated by his family.

by: Pierce/Bear

Sat, 10 May 2008 03:02:09 +0000

Suffice to say when I ‘cross over’: all that I ask is that people throw an ‘Irish Wake’ for me

Translation: I believe that AzBill; if he is ‘up there’ watching would appreciate a Wake.

Hint: it may be best to hold such a celebration of Bill’s life at a Coffeehouse.

Again; RIP, AzBill

by: Ron Cortez

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:09:16 +0000

I would like to thank: Victor, Steve, Sean and Jeff for the phone call. I realize that the wording is all wrong in the posting and why someone could not get my intention. Thank you for the phone call and lets thank Bill for his last joke. Lets celebrate him in stead.
However, I love the outpore of postings. Chris is missing all the action.

by: Victor

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:58:50 +0000

Okay. so let’s get on with the details of the Irish Wake. Perhaps we should take this inside to the forum.

by: Steve Kessler

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:33:43 +0000

Bill Sandweg is right………Bill would be loving this!

by: Joshua Morris

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:14:41 +0000

Hmmm….thank you for the clarification Bob Guenthner

by: Jc

Fri, 09 May 2008 23:11:04 +0000

UMMMMM……

by: Bob Guenthner

Fri, 09 May 2008 22:13:45 +0000

I believe that I am the attorney-cousin of Bill’s that was referred to in a blog saying that I had set up the continued operation of Red Rock Foods. That is a complete lie. No one with any authority to do so has authorized the continued operation of Red Rock Foods.

by: Bill and Ginger Sandweg

Fri, 09 May 2008 22:05:35 +0000

Bill would love this!

by: steve kessler

Fri, 09 May 2008 19:32:12 +0000

Oh ya….Jessica, what do you mean by “Gossip about a great man”? Who are you referring too?

by: steve kessler

Fri, 09 May 2008 19:30:01 +0000

Okay, I’m on board with the Irish wake. OTOH, Ron please realize that the way it was wording sent red flags up. It just came across as a little strange. However, we are a community, and sticking together is important. All of us here are interested in helping. Since you have direct contact with the fam, please post info as soon as possible.

by: Sean

Fri, 09 May 2008 19:04:04 +0000

Had a good conversation with Ron from Cortez. It is in the best interest of the coffee community here in AZ to pay our respects together, knowing that most of us business owners are very busy we’ll try to find a central location to meet for an Irish wake so we may pay tribute to Bill.