I just received word my old friend Bill Naumann has left this life and entered into his reward. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the privilege of knowing him, having his influence in my life, and his friendship with my family for nearly sixty years.
Bill’s life in Naperville was interwoven with my family’s, from our first encounter at church in the summer of 1962, and through decades of friendship via Sunday school, community activities with the Y’s Men’s Club, socializing in New Year’s Eve party traditions, family potlucks, and other commonalities.
God used Bill to help nudge me into my Life Journey of living in Japan. If I look back at the progression of baby steps leading me here, a comment from Bill on the telephone during my high school years was one of the very first footprints I can clearly recall.
Let me explain in more detail. I have very sensitive ears. In Japan they call hearing like mine jigoku no mimi (the ears of Hell), meaning I can hear what people are whispering in the next room, in the middle of a thunderstorm! My mom has perfect pitch, and although I can’t claim that as my own talent, I feel her DNA helped give me my incredible hearing and sensitivity to sound. My body jumps at any sudden outburst of sound, so I physically react to and am bothered by someone clicking his pen mindlessly, the squeak of a rotating fan in need of a good oiling, and even the whine of a mosquito, trapped in my room at bedtime.
Thanks to these ears of mine, I either love or hate the radio DJs’ voice. My husband automatically turns on the radio as soon as he gets up, so my hellish hearing gets a good workout the moment I awake. As a teenager, I was a night owl, enjoying the quiet in the house after everyone had gone to bed, and listened to WGN night radio, where they played moody music and the DJ had a warm and soothing tone to relax to.
One day, I answered the phone and immediately recognized Mr. Naumann’s voice. I greeted him warmly, as he has always been a close family friend ever since we moved to Naperville. I remember saying how much I loved his telephone voice, and he returned the compliment, suggesting my own voice was ideal to be a disc jockey. Something clicked inside me, and I began to imagine myself working for WGN night radio!! Sure enough, this stubborn notion pushed me into guidance counseling my senior year, and as a college freshman at ISU, I entered the Speech Communications Dept., which had two branches, Mass Communications (where a potential DJ should start her studies) and Speech Communications (Interpersonal & Group Dynamics, etc; the behavioral studies which were my dad’s specialty).
To be honest, the first day of Mass Comm. 101, I knew becoming a DJ was NOT for me. They expected you to read three newspapers (cover-to-back) a day, ten magazines a week, and keep a journal on hot news topics from daily TV. This kind of frenetic lifestyle did not suit me one little bit. I immediately dropped out of the class. But since I’d entered that department, the only thing left to study was Speech Communications, which I soon discovered was my one great love, and I grew a lot from majoring in it! Later, living in Japan, I found my training helped me greatly as an English teacher, managing the group dynamics of classes.
Since I had other strengths I wanted to explore, I took a lot of electives to complete three minors in English (mainly creative writing), Art and Music, which have also served me greatly in my life in Japan. And since a Speech Communications major was not marketable upon graduation, per se, I got a Masters in Counseling, imagining I’d like to work in the Holistic Health field later on. While studying counseling, I found I was not suited to that profession either (what, again?), since I tended to worry about my clients 24/7, never able to leave work at the office! So despite having a BS and an MS when I finished my upper education, I had no potential job in mind, and my dad talked about taking a break by teaching English overseas with the International Y (which also “clicked” internally, when he made the suggestion, just as Bill Naumann’s casual comment had). The rest, they say, is history.
When I was engaged, and Shigeki came to the U.S. to meet my parents and ‘ask for my hand,’ Bill and Herbie opened their home to him, giving him a room (or should I say ‘basement suite’?) of his own to use during the week he was there. They also housed Shigeki’s best friends from France, who came for our wedding, three months later. I remember spending a LOT of time at the Naumann’s house during that summer, where I spoke with both Bill and Herbie, separately as well as together, as I prepared for my life as a foreign wife in faraway Japan. Herbie’s experiences living there (when she was younger) were a great help to me. Bill’s calm and accepting demeanor always encouraged me to speak very frankly with him. They made that summer so special for me!!!
While my son was still in grade school, our family took a driving holiday to visit Bill and Herbie in Kyushu, where Bill was a guest lecturer for a nearby university one semester. That trip was also very memorable for us. While Bill was busy at school, Herbie hosted us and spent time with my son, who was fond of sketching. Bill was a wonderful host to Shigeki, content to just sit companionably with him without forcing conversation. Our love and respect for them as a couple continued to grow through that visit.
We have lost a dear friend now, but the host of heaven has gained a wonderful musician to join the orchestra praising God continually. Mr. Naumann! Bless you for your kindness toward me in this life! I’m thankful to know you are fully healed now, in the presence of Jesus, our Lord. I promise to continue on in faith, friendship and fellowship with your loved ones you’ve left behind.
August 3rd, 2020
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