With great sadness, we announce the passing of Bill Jenkins on May 25, 2024 at the age of 90.
Bill was the beloved husband of the late Junne Jenkins (2022). He was also the devoted and loving father to Sandy Jenkins (Richard Gilbert) who cherished him and will miss him dearly.
Bill was the owner and operator of Bill Jenkins Excavating for over 40 years, specializing in rural and urban roads and drainage. He also proudly spent 9 years serving as an elected councillor for (the former) Howard Township.
Throughout his lifetime, Bill enjoyed serving on a number of different boards and committees including: Chair of the Morpeth Community Centre, Chair of the Southwestern Ontario Fair Circuit, Chair of the East-Kent Memorial Arena, Director and Trustee for the Ridgetown Golf and Country Club, Director of the Ridgetown Curling Club, and member of the Chatham Kent Drainage Board.
Bill and his wife a had a love for the sport of curling. He could always be found, on and off the ice, laughing and telling a joke to his curling buddies that always started with “Say, did you hear the one about….”. His love for curling, and for the condition of the ice everyone curled on, led to him taking on the responsibility of serving as the Ridgetown Curling Club’s iceman for a few winter seasons.
In his later years, Bill took up a new hobby and became an avid horseman and proud owner / trainer of a couple of horses who raced at Dresden and other tracks in Southwestern Ontario.
Following the passing of his wife, Bill moved from his home in Morpeth to reside at the Chatham Retirement Resort to be closer to his family. There, as he did everywhere else, he made many new friends. Thank you to all of the residents who stopped the family when they saw us in the hall in the last few weeks to kindly inquire how Bill was doing. That meant so much to us.
We also want to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to all of the RPNs, PSWs and staff at the Chatham Retirement Resort who were so very kind to Bill during his stay there, and who were especially attentive and caring of him during the last few difficult weeks of his life.
Thank you as well to the team at the Chatham Kent Hospice who provided such compassionate care to Bill in his final days. If you wish to honour Bill in some way, please think about contributing to the hospice at Donations – Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation (chathamkenthospicefoundation.com).
Bill’s wishes were that cremation take place, followed by a private graveside service at a later date at the Morpeth Cemetery.
Online condolences can be left at Blenheim Funeral Home (blenheimcommunityfuneralhome.com)
