MonticelloLive

Note: This week’s column is taken from Governor Beebe’s remarks for the eulogy of Bill Gwatney on August 18, 2008 at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “But now abideth faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Bill Gwatney got love because Bill Gwatney gave love. One of the traits that I admire most in human beings is loyalty, and I’ve always said you can’t get loyalty if you don’t give loyalty. Certainly, you can get love without giving it, but it’s not nearly as good, it’s not nearly as rewarding, and I don’t think it’s nearly as rich. Bill gave love and he got love. He was a loving husband, he was a loving father, he was a loving son, he was a loving brother, he was a loving friend, and he was a loving Arkansan.

For all of Bill’s qualities that have been remembered in the past several days, the one thing we haven’t said enough and the one I think we ought to say is that despite all the exterior traits, despite the quips and the quick wit, and despite the jokes and the sometimes sharp barbs, the characteristic about Bill Gwatney I know the most about is love. He loved this state. He loved his family. He loved his friends and, in return, they loved him back.

Now a lot of people, who didn’t know Bill well, didn’t know about his tremendous heart — softer and warmer than he liked to let a lot of people see, and the proof lies in the way he choose to live. I’ve made a lot of jokes about Bill being a “Kennedy Democrat”, born rich but caring about everyone else. He could have taken a lot of other roads, but he chose public service. He seemed to understand the parable of the faithful servant better than most: “For of those to whom much is given, much will be required, and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.”

For the past few days, many of us have been sharing stories. I always remember that he would never wear socks; he loved to wear a sports coat without socks. There was only one Bill; there will only ever be one Bill, who for some 15 years, I had the privilege of working with and who would never cease to amaze us with his sheer talent.

God gives people talent, some more than others, some certainly different than others. He gave Bill a quick and discerning mind, quick wit, the ability to think on his feet, and, most of all, a big heart to exhibit love. His love for his wife, his love for his brother, his love for his parents, certainly his love for his girls, his love for his colleagues, and his love for people he never met, but cared about deeply and wanted to improve their lives. You see, as a “Kennedy Democrat”, he really did want to reach down and help every single being he could touch to make their lives better, to make Arkansas better, to make America better, and even to make the whole world better.

We won’t replace him, but we can honor him by exhibiting the kind of love he would have wanted us to exhibit and by continuing to work for the betterment of the state we love so much.