Burton "Bill" William Ives

Burton William Ives, known to most as Bill or "Wild Bill," passed away on Friday, May 17 at the place he loved the most: his home. Bill was born in Willimantic on February 20, 1940 and resided in Columbia, CT his entire life except for his four years in the U.S. Air Force where he served in Mississippi, The Philippines and in Maine. He worked for more than 50 years at Burt Ives & Sons Honda Motorcycles and was its co-owner for more than 30 years. He started Burt Ives Tack in the early nineties and his customers loved seeing him at horse shows and events where he often photographed them. In addition to being an expert photographer who worked with film and digital cameras, he loved carpentry, model airplane building & flying, and had one of largest collections of Fox Model Engine Motors in the world. He was also an expert on Springfield Rifles and High Standard Pistols; even though he sold his gun collection years ago, he loved reviewing pictures of his former collection and reading about other collections. He also enjoyed target shooting and called himself a paper puncher not a hunter; he was an NRA member and the President of the Willimantic Gun Club for many years; when he joined the Manchester Team in the late eighties, he brought the entire Willimantic team with him. He rode motorcycles from the time he was a young child, and although he did not ride horses, he had a small horse farm which he loved to call "The Ranch" for over forty five years which was populated with numerous critters such as horses, chickens, small dogs and cats for decades. He personally put two large additions on his home, built the barn and installed all the fences on his property. In recent years he shared his gift for carpentry with students at Coventry High School as he helped his wife, the Drama Advisor, by building the sets and teaching students to build sets for the high school productions. He photographed and recorded many of plays and shared his photos and DVDs of many productions with the students. He also photographed many sporting events and shared his sports photos with coaches, students, and numerous parents. He was predeceased by his parents Burton L. and Leah, and his first wife Rayma. He graced the life of his second wife Joanne who realized when she met him that he was the person she waited to meet for decades; they married in 1997 and they were delighted to share their lives as devoted friends and spouses. Bill found comfort and joy in the welcoming community of the Church of the Holy Family in Hebron. He also appreciated the care and support he received from the Hospital for Special Care and the Veterans Administration of West Haven and Newington after he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease in August of 2012. In addition to his wife Joanne, he is survived by his brothers Ken and Ron as well as his sister Norma, nephew Ken, niece Kelly, many cousins and scores of friends. His family will receive relatives and friends on Tuesday May 21, 2013 between 6:00 and 8:00pm at Potter Funeral Home 456 Jackson St. (Rte. 195) Willimantic. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday May 22nd at 10:30am at Church of The Holy Family, 185 Church St. (Rte. 85) Hebron with interment following in St. Joseph Cemetery, Windham. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the ALS Association, Connecticut Chapter, 4 Oxford Road, Unit D 4, Milford, CT 06460. For an online memorial guestbook, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com .