Lt. Col. William Arthur Bamford II (1934-2010)

For the last year or so, my Uncle Bill has been battling Cancer. At the end of February he learned that the disease had traveled to his brain. At that time we weren't sure if he would want treatment. He did and made it through the month of March and into April.

However, he knew that he wasn't going to get any better and only worse, so late last week he and his wife made the decision that he would no longer receive medication and would no longer eat, so that he could go home and be with Jesus.

We learned that he died just before 7:00 AM EDT this morning. From what we understand, he went peacefully into the next life.

My Uncle was a Godly man, serving as an officer in The Salvation Army. For those of you who don't know: The Salvation Army is a branch of the Wesleyan line of Protestant churches, using a para-military organizational scale and terminology. In effect, a Salvation Army Officer would be known as a Pastor in other Protestant churches.

He was well loved and respected by all those who knew him and always had a kind word for everyone he came in to contact with. This has been evident to me as I read short tributes left to him from friends and those whose lives he touched on my cousin Bill's Facebook page.

For a few years, in my younger days (when I spent my summers at Camp Wonderland), my Uncle and his wife were stationed in Massachusetts. Their cabin was right down the road from ours. I can remember watching many Red Sox games on television at his cabin, and especially the All-Star Game every year, where he would root for the National League team but be happy for me when the American League won. My Uncle learned to love the Red Sox, but at heart was always a Phillies fan, having grown up in the Philadelphia area.

In retirement, down in Florida, he would occasionally go see the Red Sox in Spring Training and would go to Tropicana Field when the Red Sox were playing the Rays.

My dad, who is ten years younger, wanted to retire in Florida in part to spend time with his oldest brother. My dad is still going to retire in Florida but couldn't get there in time.

The last time I saw my Uncle was in 2006, at my Grandfather's funeral in New Jersey. Who would have thought back then, that he would only outlive his father by less than four years.

Yes, it's sad that he's gone but we don't mourn. Instead, we rejoice at a life well lived in service to God and man. We rejoice because death is a part of life in this day and age and that even though his physical body has died, his soul now resides in heaven. Further, we rejoice because one day we shall see him again in glory.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures to post along with this, which is unfortunate.