Getting to know... Bill Wetzel

 “And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 KJV).  All things.  Even the hard things that Bill Wetzel, the faithful man behind that friendly smile greeting guests on Sunday mornings, has been called to endure.

 

Bill was born in Chambersburg, PA and raised in a local orphanage for the first 21 years of his life.  The orphanage was a horrible place, supposedly a Christian ministry but run more like a prison.  The teachers would continually remind the kids that “Jesus wouldn’t act like that” when reprimanding them, but never once gave the orphans a plan of salvation to escape their own wickedness.  The children sang hymns and had a preacher but Bill never understood the gospel until he left the orphanage.

 

Bill and his brother, who was in the orphanage with him, were surprised to learn that a girl by the same last name who was raised in the girls’ section of the orphanage was their sister.   They had known of the girl their entire lives but did not learn until they were teens that they were related to her.  Ironically, his birth mother lived right across the field from the orphanage that housed most of her abandoned children.  Bill was in his teens when she revealed to him, unapologetically, the fact that she was his mother.  Each of his parents had remarried after their divorce and had 8 more kids between the two of them.

 

Bill left the orphanage in his early twenties when one of the older boys said, “If you take care of our children while we work, we’ll give you a roof over your head.”  He watched the children for 3 years when he decided that he had better get out in the world to work and make something of himself.  He went to work for a canning factory for 2 years, worked building cranes and farm wagons for 5 years, and then landed a job at Mac Truck which carried him for the next 30 years.  He liked the job but took early retirement at age 59.

 

Bill was married at age 28 to a volatile but supposedly Christian lady, and had two children, Rocky and April Marie.  Both babies were dedicated at the Pennsylvania church where the family attended and Bill was glad when Rocky made a profession of faith and was baptized at age 9. 

                                          

                                  

Every Thursday night, Bill would go bowling with the Mac Truck bowling team. On the worst night of his life, he came home after bowling and went to kiss the kids goodnight like he did every Thursday night.  When he kissed April Marie, he found vomit all over her face and the child was blue.  Horrified, Bill tried to revive her but the little girl had passed away.  Bill confronted his wife who said coolly, “I killed her and you are going to get yours.”  She began divorce proceedings and Bill attempted to win custody of Rocky.  Despite his wife’s admission of the killing to Bill and the fact that her own mother testified on behalf of Bill, the court ruled that a child of tender years belonged with the mother.  The woman took Rocky and went into hiding, telling the 12 year old that his father was dead. 

 

Bill came to know the Lord in a personal way after April Marie’s death.  He remembered what David had said about his own child, “I can always go to her but she can’t come to me.”   He knew that he had to get his act together and received the Lord at age 39 with a prayer that he would one day see his precious daughter again in heaven.  After his retirement, he found out he had yet another sister out in California and she invited him to come out and stay.  His first thought after arriving in sunny southern California was “Where was this place all my life?”  He settled here in the Santa Ynez Valley and was out walking the dogs one day when he met a lady with a team of horses, Beverly Walters, who invited him to attend Community Church whose services were being held at the Santa Ynez Valley High School.  He has been an integral part of the body ever since.  He loves the church and finds the people to be friendly, but what he most loves is hearing the full message of the Word.  He says he wouldn’t have stayed all this time if the preaching was just tickling to his ears.

 

A few years ago, Bill was able find Rocky with the help of a friend from church with internet access.  Bill called him up, told him that he wasn’t dead and that April Marie was never sickly, as the mother had described her, and told Rocky that he wanted to know his son.  He invited him to visit and for the past few years they have begun the slow work of redeveloping their relationship.  Bill looks forward to Rocky’s calls which come regularly every Sunday now.

 

Bill stays busy managing the mobile home park on Hwy 154 where he lives.  He prays each day that the Lord will make him a blessing to someone and the Lord typically responds with requests by the elderly park residents to have Bill take them to get their hair done, go to the bank, and go shopping. He tries to be an example while ministering to their needs.

 

The verse that the Lord uses to encourage Bill is Psalms 84:10 – “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

 

*Interview by Anjie Park