Remembering my friend, Bill Bregar

If you knew Bill Bregar, you already know all this. But keep reading anyway, because we can all use a smile right now.

He loved being a reporter. Bill said it often, and he wrote it in his annual reviews: "Thank you for allowing me to continue to be employed in journalism."

Bill wanted to be first with big news, and he wanted his story to be the best. He almost always succeeded. His mom read Plastics News every week for years, and Bill wanted her to see his byline on Page 1.

He loved being part of a team. Many of his favorite stories involved multiple reporters, often scattered around the world, gathering information. Bill always wanted to do more project stories like that.

Bill liked mentoring every new person at Plastics News. He'd explain technology, set up plant visits and take people around trade shows to introduce them to key sources and show them working equipment, firsthand. When the new folks showed Bill that they wanted to learn, he made sure I knew.

Bill loved off-color humor. He's the guy who bought a "Cleveland Vibrator" hat, plus an extra one for a colleague. And then complained when his wife threw his away.

He'd start a sentence: "I probably shouldn't say this, but…," and I'd rush to stop him. He'd make an risqué remark, then crack up giggling — even if everyone else was rolling their eyes.

He loved comic books. If he found out that you liked them too, watch out … the next thing you know, you had a full mailbox. He even mailed comics to friends in Europe.

Bill loved newspapers. He wrote letters to the editor of his local papers, and he complained if they didn't run. The letters were always excellent, and most of the time they'd be published. He'd also cut out articles and opinion pieces that he liked and mail them to colleagues.

Bill also loved writing cards and letters. They were always handwritten, often difficult to decipher, but always cordial and thoughtful.

He loved coordinating the Processor of the Year award. You might wonder how someone so scattered, on the surface, could manage such a big project. But he excelled at it and came to personify the award. He'd help talk first-time candidates through the process of applying, giving them helpful advice that not only improved their entries but made them better places to work.

Bill loved covering the Plastics Hall of Fame, too. He was our resident historian, even when he was a young 20-something reporter. He interviewed all the new Hall of Fame members, almost always in person. Bill also interviewed just about every Society of Plastics Engineer leader, including the pioneers who started the organization in the 1940s.

He loved writing about young people, too. He wasn't a stereotypical boomer, complaining about young people. There was a little bit of that, poking fun at kids staring at their cellphones instead of experiencing life. But Bill preferred to write about apprentices and plastics engineering students over any other topic.

He loved sports, especially Kirtland High School (his alma mater) and Cleveland professional sports. I went to games with him. Bill clapped and hollered louder that anyone I've ever sat with, and I am not exaggerating. You think he typed loud? I didn't know it was possible to clap that loud. And you should have heard him after the Hornets scored a touchdown.

Bill and his brother Terry were big Cleveland Cavalier fans, experiencing the Miracle of Richfield, the dark days of Ted Stepien and the LeBron James era. If you saw Bill on the weekend, he was probably wearing a Cavs T-shirt

Bill loved local radio, especially talk radio. The topic didn't matter: news, opinion, sports, even the dating shows. If the host had some personality and was good at handling callers, Bill would listen. He kept cassette tapes of his favorites.

He liked to help others. He volunteered to read newspapers on the radio for blind listeners, and he read, one-on-one, to elementary school pupils in Akron, Ohio. He even encouraged others to join him, and pretty soon we had a car full of Plastics News volunteers. He donated blood, too.

Bill loved music. He played drums in both his high school and college marching band. He went to tons of live concerts. He could talk about jazz or rock, popular and obscure bands. He liked vinyl records, and he wrote his share of stories about the plastic technology used to make them.

He liked old-school Plastics News stuff. He liked the old rainbow-colored logo, and he saved — and wore — every PN tie, golf shirt and sweater vest that he ever owned. His son told me last week that they're kind of cool because they're so "retro."

Bill loved all types of food. We all joke that he was Bob Evans' biggest fan, and that was true. But I traveled a lot with Bill in 29 years, and we didn't go to Bob Evans more than twice. He loved local diners, Mexican restaurants, coney dog drive-ins and family-owned German spots.

Bill knew fine food, too. He worked at a restaurant magazine before he joined Plastics News in 1989. PN used to give a "story of the month" award to reporters, which included dinner for two on the company's dime. Bill knew all the best local places.

He liked to tease people. I won't embarrass anyone else, so here's a partial list of things he teased me about: How much I ate, how I made my bed when I stayed in a hotel room, how I once forgot a sport coat and had to borrow his, how I got really sick at NPE 2000, how my wife and I adopted a stray pit bull when we moved to Detroit, and how I wasn't his friend because we weren't friends on Facebook. He loved it when he discovered something new to tease me about.

Bill didn't love dogs — at first. When he married Nancy, he complained that her dogs wanted to sleep in their bed. But in the past year, he learned to love the dogs, too. He posted photos of them and wrote mushy things about how they helped him feel better.

Bill loved to travel. He loved to read books. He loved riding his bicycle, and for a while he rode back and forth to work every day. In the past year, he learned to love flowers, and he joined a rose club.

He loved people. When he moved from Akron to live closer to his mom a few years ago, he still commuted nearly 45 miles, each way, every day. I told him he could work from home a few days a week, but he said no. He liked being in the newsroom with his colleagues.

Bill used to say that the plastics industry people he wrote about weren't his friends. When someone tried to talk him out of writing a story, he'd complain if they tried to play the "friend" card. Being a journalist was most important to him. But sources who respected that did become his friends, and I've been blown away by the outpouring of love that dozens of them shared with us last week.

If Bill could only know how much he meant to so many people.

I'm proud to say that, after years of reluctance, Bill officially became my friend on Facebook about a year ago. After Nancy passed away, Bill wrote that Frank Esposito, Steve Toloken and I were more than just work colleagues, we were friends.

We knew that all along, of course. But we thought we'd enjoy the status for a long time.

I'll miss you, Bill.

Loepp is editor of Plastics News and author of the Plastics Blog. Follow him on Twitter @donloepp.

Plastics News editorial cartoon by Rich Williams. Cartoons are available for purchase at www.plasticsnews.com/data-lists/cartoons