|
knew Don, who was the first of the brothers to pass away. Bill was a big man in every sense of the word. He had a hearty laugh and a generosity that was legendary. He wore those oversized suspenders to hold his pants up like Jim Deist used to wear. He was perfectly matched to play Santa Claus with that big belly, twinkling eyes and wonderful sense of humor and playfulness. Like most hot rodders, he probably never really grew up, but that’s fine with us. The child in Bill Summers is what made him human. You couldn’t find a better or more loyal friend. As young men the two brothers burst upon the scene with their streamliner and in an amazingly short space of time set a record of 409 mph back in the mid-1960’s. It was an unheard of time for Americans and for piston powered cars. It took almost thirty years before Al Teague equaled that time, but in a different class. Today there are men and women who are reaching those high speeds with wheel driven, piston powered cars, but back then we were impressed. Really and truly impressed; and we still are.
We arrived at the church around noon and wandered about. In the kitchen were a group of ladies cooking and preparing the food. They were Polynesian Islanders from the Island of Tonga who had immigrated to America and they were friendly and jovial. Bill Summers had met and married a Tongan lady of great charm and kindness; a lady who matched those same qualities in Bill. My wife was Samoan, from an Island group close by to Tonga and I approached the ladies and said Maloelele, the greeting in Tongan for hello. They directed me to a room next door where the services would be held. Slowly the room filled up and sixty people in all came to give their last respects to an American land speed icon. Bill’s sister Susan Cunningham and his widow Likivai arranged this memorial. Another memorial for Bill Summers will be held on Friday, June 24, 2011 at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California. Likivai Summers called Bill’s long-time and close friend, Jeff Shipley and he conducted the memorial service. Susan promised to work on a family biography for Bill and Bob Summers and share it with us. “I went to a Russetta Timing Association meet,” said Jeff Shipley to the audience. “I didn’t know them that well until I went to their shop on 9th Street in Upland, California. I was so impressed with the neat and clean appearance of the streamliner. We didn’t socialize much at the time I first met the brothers, because we raced in different classes,” Shipley went on.
“The brothers were the only race team that I know of to build a car and set the record in the same year. I raced until 1969 in land speed racing and then left the sport for awhile. I retired from my job when I was 55; it was one of the best decisions that I made and I went back to Bonneville in 1988. I volunteered to work on one of their race car’s (not the Goldenrod) and we did ‘rent-a-rides’ where we put people into the car for a price and they would get the opportunity to see what Bonneville was all about. We then took the car to El Mirage and set a record there,” Shipley added. “Bill loved people and he loved to go to lunch. Bill would call me up and say, ‘where are we going to lunch.’ He was an optimist. He would call people up on the telephone and keep in touch with people. He was very caring in his dealings with people. Bill told me, ‘Jeff, whatever you do, make sure that you keep in touch with your friends. You are a rich man if you have friends.’ And Bill had a lot of friends in his life,” Shipley concluded. Waldo Stakes was the next speaker. “When I got into this sport I tracked down all the land speed racing legends,” said Waldo. “Bill was one of those that I liked the best. At a party his eyes would light right up. He was a people person. Bill told me once, ‘Waldo, the greatest thing that has ever happened to me is the friends that I have made,’ and I’m glad to say that I am one of those friends,” Stakes said. Chris Cooper, Bill’s stepdaughter, spoke next. “I’m a truck driver and Bill would call me and find out how I was doing while on the road. Bill Summers was a good and fair man and he loved people,” Cooper related.
Dan Neuenschwander was the next speaker. “I remember when the Summers brothers ran a car (lakester) in 2002. Bob was the machinist. I had seen a video of the making and running of the Goldenrod streamliner and I was really impressed. I volunteered to work on the lakester and they accepted me into their group. Bill loved to play pranks and jokes on people. He also loved to eat, especially steaks. He called me every day to see how I was doing. I’m so proud to be his friend,” Dan told us. Jeff asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak and I raised my hand. “I met Bill and Joy on many occasions,” I told the gathering, “but I can’t tell you much about Bill or Bob Summers. I’ve been around him for most of my life, but how much do we really know those who we meet occasionally. That’s why we ask all of you to start on your biographies and caption your photographs so that you can leave a record to your family and friends about your accomplishments. I want you all to know that the Parks family has admired and respected the Summers brothers and their family for more than six decades. We are very proud of this land speed racing family,” I concluded. Susan Summers Cunningham, Bill’s sister told us, “My brother’s friends were his life. I would get these silly phone calls from him all the time and it cheered me up. Bill would get bored and he would call all of his family and friends,” Susan ended.
Five Tongan ladies sang a song in Bill’s honor, How Great Thou Art, in both the Tongan and English languages. Likivai Summers, Bill’s widow then addressed the people in the audience. “I got so many phone calls from so many of his friends to comfort me,” she said. “I called Jeff Shipley to come and help me when my husband died. I knew Bill for four years, but we were only married for ten months. I want to read you a letter that I wrote for my husband,” Likivai added. The letter was full of love and kind and caring thoughts, just as Bill would have wanted to hear. “Bill had a wonderful sense of humor and he joked a lot. He called me up and proposed to me on the phone and then said, ‘Do you know how to cook?’ I met him four years ago, translating for his Tongan caregiver. He would ask me, ‘Would you like to marry a man like me?’ I told him, ‘I don’t even know you!’ He told me that he wore a long beard and I told him that I don’t like men with beards, so he shaved it off for me. He said to me, ‘Don’t you feel sorry for an old man like me?’ He always made me laugh so much. He called Waldo Stakes and told him, ‘Waldo, I met this lady from Tonga and I married her.’ The first time that we saw each other in person was on our wedding day, though I saw pictures of him on the internet. We talked on the phone all the time. He was so generous. He would invite homeless people into his home to live with him. Bill wasn’t good with his money; his heart was just too big. He invited a 79 year old homeless lady to stay at his home and she would wander around the house and yard without any clothes on,” Likivai finished.
Likivai and Waldo gave me a little background information. Bill was married three times. They don’t remember who the first wife was, but his second wife was Joy Green, who had been previously married to Don Green. Bill never had any natural children, but he was close to his stepchildren from Joy; Rick, Chris and Cheryl, from Joy’s marriage to Charles Cooper, and Maggie, David and Roy from Joy’s marriage to Don Green of the Rat Trap drag car fame. Bill’s third marriage was to Likivai. This was Likivai’s second marriage as she was a widow when she married Bill Summers. Some of the guests included; Kim Huff, Val and Mary Anderson, Andrew Hastings, Waldo and Denise Stakes. Waldo is a land speed racer. Maggie and David Peace; Maggie is Bill's stepdaughter. Scott and Michelle Summers and their children Stone, Jackie and Priscilla; Scott is Bill's nephew. Tiffany Summers Martin and her children Nate and Tyson. Tiffany is Bill's niece. Susan and Jeff Cunningham; Susan is Bill's sister. Likivai Summers is Bill's widow. Jeff and Shirley Shipley; Jeff is a land speed racer and served as Bill's crew chief. Christina Cooper; Christina is Bill's stepdaughter. Dan and Trish Neuenschwander; Dan was a crewman on Bill's lakester. Faith Cretty and her children Millie, Hazel, Sammie, Lily and Andrew; Faith is Bill's daughter-in-law.
|
