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FRANCONIA TWP – Tami (Wenger) Walker remembers Billy Vanderbeek as ‘a genuine person.’
“Everybody was always accepted by Bill – nobody was ever alone,” Walker said of her close friend and former classmate. “He always included everybody.
“He would light up a room with his smile. His laughter - you could hear him for miles and miles. He played on the football team, and he kept them going, he was a motivator. He was the life of the crowd.”
The memory of Vanderbeek, who tragically lost his life in an accident in January of 1992, will go on for many years to come, thanks to a garden planted in his honor just inside the main gate of Souderton Area High School’s stadium.
“It’s just amazing because every day we think of him,” his mother, Nancy Vanderbeek said. “Things like this just warm our hearts so much that people still remember him and the person he was. It’s an amazing feeling after 20 years.”
The memory garden – replacing a tree planted in his memory at the former high school location – was rededicated at a special ceremony between the first and second quarter of Friday night’s football game against Perkiomen Valley – a 34-13 Souderton win.
“How do I describe this,” said Nancy, who along with husband David were the guests of honor at Friday’s rededication. “We didn’t expect anything like this.
“They said the tree was at the high school, and I thought it would stay there. The fact that it could be done during a football game was even more awesome. That’s what Bill’s life was, and that’s what he would have wanted. It’s gorgeous, it’s just gorgeous.”
The plaque at the base of a tree that is the focal point of the garden was unveiled at the ceremony, and in a quiet moment, Nancy Vanderbeek, a bouquet of flowers in her arm, leaned forward and gently touched the plaque that read simply, “In Memory of Bill Vanderbeek.”
“I just wanted to make sure it was real,” Nancy said. “The whole experience is just – the fact that after 20 years, they still love him.”
And they haven’t forgotten him either.
“He was a phenomenal guy,” said Souderton Lead Assistant Principal Matt Haines, a teammate and friend of Vanderbeek. “He had such a big heart for people in general. He really cared about the well being of others.
“We talk about ‘Character Counts,’ and I always think of Billy when we talk about ‘Character Counts’ because that’s who he was. He was just caring, thoughtful, respectful.”
Vanderbeek is remembered as a young man with a strong faith who was active in his church and always put others in front of himself.”
“Billy would never have expected anything like this,” his mother said. “He wouldn’t have wanted it. He did (what he did) because that is just what you do.
“The fact that he is still remembered is something we will never forget. This is really very special. It means the world to us.”
***
Roll back the calendar to January 10, 1992. There’s a light dusting of snow on the ground, but members of the Souderton football team keep up their weekly tradition of meeting at the Family Heritage for breakfast before school. Billy Vanderbeek – a regular at the breakfasts - doesn’t show up.
Later that morning, Nancy Vanderbeek notices that Billy’s Jeep – which he had lovingly restored with his father – is not in the driveway.
“I was looking for him for an hour and a half,” his mother recalled. “We only lived one block home from the old high school. He would take his Jeep to breakfast, would come home and park it, and he never came home.”
She called the school.
“He always had perfect attendance, and they came back and said that school had already started, but he wasn’t there,” Nancy said. “Then I knew something bad had happened.
“There were so many accidents that morning because of black ice. I had already called Grand View Hospital, but they said there were too many accidents and couldn’t check for me.”
Later that morning, the hospital called back. Vanderbeek had been one of the accident victims. The accident report would show that Billy’s Jeep hit black ice as it was rounding a corner, hit a concrete wall and rolled several times. The fatal crash took the life of the Souderton junior.
His mother can still recall the trip home from the hospital.
“We were getting off the 309 bypass in Souderton, and you know how they say when someone really close to you dies and you look at other people just going on with their lives you think – how can they do that? Don’t they know what just happened to us?” Nancy recalled. “That’s the feeling you get, but the community was amazing.
“If it wouldn’t have been for our faith and our community, we wouldn’t have gotten through it.”
Vanderbeek’s accident rocked an entire community. Vanderbeek was beloved by his teammates, his classmates, his teachers and all who knew him.
Walker – who was waiting for Vanderbeek to pick her up that fateful morning of the accident - acknowledges it was the worst day of her life.
“But it wasn’t just for me,” she said. “It was for everybody.
Haines also remembers it well
“That day was just ridiculous,” he said. “I remember leaving school early. I remember tons of kids just walking out of the building.
“He was just such a well-known and well-loved kid. I don’t think that Souderton was prepared grief counseling-wise that day, but how could you be with a kid that was that well known.”
Vanderbeek, according to both Haines and Walker, loved to spend time with his friends.
“I remember the Vanderbeeks used to always have us all over,” Haines said. “There would be 20-30 kids in their basement, and they were just soaking it all in.”
“We spent a lot of time at the Vanderbeek’s house,” Walker added. “They were a good house to bring everyone together, and Bill was the leader of all that.”
Souderton’s football team dedicated its 1992 season to their teammate and wore his nickname ‘Beek’ on their helmets as a tribute to Vanderbeek. They went on to win the league championship that season and the following season as well.
At Friday night’s rededication ceremony, members of 2012 Souderton football team raised their helmets as one to honor a member of their football family who had been taken much too soon.
A scholarship is given by Souderton’s Fifth Quarter Club each year in Vanderbeek’s memory. It is given ‘to a student much like Billy, someone with school spirit and citizenship who is involved in school activities and is well-liked by fellow students.’
Billy Vanderbeek is gone, but his memory lives on. Souderton Area High School made sure of that with Friday night’s re-dedication ceremony.
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