10 MARCH 2016 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG In Memoriam The world and the aquaculture community lost one of the finest people I have known on January 17, 2016 with the death of who I have long considered to be one of my very best friends, Bill A. Simco. He was a remarkable scientist, teacher, and a true gentleman. Bill was born on July 14, 1938 in Mountainburg, Arkansas in a two-room house. He grew up playing a game called hoseball, which apparently is a cross between stickball and baseball that is played with pieces of garden hose rather than a traditional ball. “You could really put spin on that little piece of hose,” said one of his long-time schoolmates. Playing long hours of hoseball probable played a significant role in Bill’s lifelong love of sports. After high school, Bill attended the College of the Ozarks, from which he graduated in 1960. He went on to obtain his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1963 and 1966. His 48-year professional career was spent at the University of Memphis (formerly Memphis State University) where he was a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Co-Director of the Ecological Research Center at the time of his passing. He was one of the most passionate supporters of University of Memphis sports teams. The following from the memorial service characterizes Bill’s life: “As an adult, he loved teaching and mentoring students — he said they made him feel perpetually young. He was a friend to so many and a stranger to none, a man of honor, courage, strength, good character, and above all, kindness. The impact he had on countless lives can never be fully known.” I met Bill during the summer of 1968 at the then U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service catfish facility in Stuttgart, Arkansas (now a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory). I was a graduate student sent there to learn about catfish culture, while Bill was a visiting scientist also there for the summer. We hit it off immediately. Bill quickly came to be a part of my family, which included my wife and two small children. He and I spent our days learning about the catfish industry from the scientists at the lab by seining ponds, collecting data, reading about catfish biology in the lab’s library, and fighting off mosquitos. (Bill often recounted that this was the summer he began to believe in chemical pest control.) Stuttgart is in the middle of the rice-farming region of Arkansas and reportedly the rice fields produce millions of mosquitos per acre during the summer. We also conducted an experiment in which we evaluated the salinity tolerance of channel catfish and its hybrids. That work resulted in a publication. We also designed, constructed, and tested a small demand feeder that could be used over small raceways. That little project also resulted in a publication. Bill’s aquaculture laboratory was in the morgue at a former Veteran’s Administration hospital that became the property of the University of Memphis. The morgue was the only building that had a concrete floor that could support the weight of fish tanks. In that facility he and his students conducted research on recirculating systems, fish physiology, and reproduction. Maintaining the facility was definitely a challenge and, while they may not have appreciated it at the time, the graduate students working with Bill learned how to deal with various system failures, plumbing and electrical problems, adapt non-traditional materials to applications in fish culture, and so much more. Despite coming from an academic institution and not having the resources of a typical aquaculture and fisheries program, Bill’s students went on to become highly successful government agency scientists or university researchers and educators. Each of them has interesting stories about conducting research in the morgue. While Bill and I never worked together following that summer in Stuttgart, we did get together at various scientific meetings, the most common interactions being in conjunction with the triennial World Aquaculture Society conventions and those of the U.S. Aquaculture Society. At one such meeting in Hilton Head, South Carolina my wife and I were introduced to Bill and Cheryl’s infant Billy. Most recently, last summer Bill and Cheryl came to Texas to visit Carolan and me and Bill’s former graduate student and our dear friend Nick Parker and his wife, Brenda. We all met in Lubbock, Texas and visited a museum on Texas history, The Big Texan restaurant (a famous steakhouse), the Cadillac Ranch (where Cadillac automobiles area partially buried standing upright reminiscent of Stonehenge). We attended a play on Texas history in the Palo Duro canyon near Amarillo. Bill and Cheryl then came to College Station where we showed him some of the sights. We periodically talked about the fun we’d had when Bill and I talked by telephone in the days thereafter. On Wednesday, 20 January of this year, my wife and I drove from Texas to Memphis to attend the gathering of friends and family who wanted to observe his life and be together for him one last time. The estimated 200 or more people in attendance was a testament to the respect and affection of those who had interacted with Bill. Several former students drove from other states to attend. Bill obtained several awards from his university, and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Aquaculture Society in 2007. He received the same award from his high school in 2013. His colleagues and students were his passion, not the seeking of recognition for himself, though he was an author or co-author on nearly 100 publications. The Bill A. Simco Graduate Research Scholarship was established in his name at the University of Memphis in April, 2014. The award plaque has 48 nameplates to represent the 48 years he dedicated to the pursuit of graduate education. Through this scholarship Bill’s contributions to the education of generations of students will ensure that his legacy will live on. While Bill’s wife was clearing out his campus office, she found Bill Simco (1938-2016) (CONTINUED ON PAGE 11)
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