My mother’s cousin, William Gardner Koontz, called Billy G., was born 94 years ago on 19 August 1925, to William Peter and Ethel Emma Chidester Koontz.  William Peter was my grandmother’s brother.  Billy G. was 6 years younger than my Aunt and 2 years younger than my mother.  From family lore, he was the favorite of both.  Around the time Billy G. graduated from High School in Ohio and Uncle Bill needed to move to California for work, Billy G. took seriously ill.   It was in Nevada, near Las Vegas, that he succumbed to Spinal Meningitis and died on 19 August 1943.  He was the first of my mothers 13 cousins to pass away.   I remember as a child he was still discussed in hushed tones as such a tragedy.