Benjamin Wilkins "Bill" Durham Jr.

Bill hired me at Simmons Durham in 1996 and influenced the way I worked and how I viewed the customer/client for the rest of my career. He had a great, dry humor and treated everyone with respect. I'm the kind of person who would have a woman as a mentor - but Bill was mine, even if he didn't know it. My condolences to his family and wide, fine circle of friends and associates. A good man, indeed.

To Bill's family, I'm sorry I don't have your contact info. so I can't write a proper letter. Both my father and I knew Bill from our years in the advertising business as I was with D'Arcy for most of my career and my father ran Gardner for most of his career. But it wasn't until Bill and I retired and served on the Starkloff Disability Institute board together that we really got to know each other. As board chairman at the time, I can say that Bill did more to build that board than...

Bill was a great pal of mine, who kept our investment club happy and together for years! Things will be different without Bill, who will be sadly missed and ever remembered. I´m so sorry he´s gone. George C/ Jerry/ Bitting

There are people who come into our lives at various times over our journey. Most make a small impression, then fade away. A small number make bolder statements and endure for years. And a few, if you´re fortunate, stay with you forever. Bill was one of the few. Singular, many faceted, inspiring as well as frustrating, richly endowed with charm, intelligence, knowledge, curiosity, a sense of humor, and a controversial fondness for cigars, often in the wrong place. I am still trying to grasp...

I was more fortunate than I even realized to get to know Bill through our mutual association with Starkloff Disability Institute, one of Bill's many causes. I learned what a good board member does through his example and eventually became one of his many friends. He loved his time at Ralston Purina and I'd keep him updated with an insider's view on how things were going at his beloved first company. Not many really fit the term 'Renaissance Man' but I think Bill did. I am a better person...

I have more memories of Mr.Durham than I can recount, from being my first baseball coach, afternoons on tennis courts around St Louis, and enjoying the education I received in Classical Music through The Music Group that met for many years. Most of all, I'll remember what a thoughtful and humorous friend he was to my father and I. RIP Mr Durham and deepest condolences to the Durham family. You will be missed!

Sincere and heartfelt condolences.

I last saw Bill at a ceremony honoring his friend, sculptor Harry Weber, at the St Louis Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year. Fittingly he was joined by former business partner Ted Simmons and friend Ken Street. This is my last photo of someone who helped shape my career more than almost anyone else. I thought Bill was immortal. And he is.

Our father was one of his best friends-they both were at Gardner and Ralston. We know the family. He called me Peppermint Patty because my name is Paddy- I occasionally played with them Saturday mornings when a doubles partner didn´t make it. My sister Susie and I would perform Nancy Sinatra songs for he and Mary at dinner parties my parents would host. They were just like family. Always smiling and laughing! Will miss you Mr. Durham- enjoy your Mad Men friends up there in Heaven