In memory of Bill Northrop and in thanksgiving for his service
- Family Reconciliation Cen
- Jun 11
- 2 min read
Many people will miss the beloved Bill Northrop, who died in May. Bill was a pastoral counselor, chaplain, gardener, cook, art lover, artist, world traveler, avid reader, and dear friend to many, including the men on Death Row at Riverbend.
More than 150 people recently gathered at Edgehill United Methodist Church to pay tribute to Bill. Among them was Darlene Kimbrough, a longtime volunteer with the Family Reconciliation Center. She knew Bill through her work with Amnesty International and recruited him to visit Death Row, which he did with love and grace. Shortly before he died, he visited the parents of Michael Rimmer, his friend on Death Row, in Memphis. “He made me see the beauty in everything,” Darlene says.
He was famous for his sometimes hair-raising driving skills. The Rev. Eric Mayle told of a friend “whose prayer life improved immensely while she was getting rides from Bill Northrup; everybody who shared the road while he was driving improved their prayer life immensely.”
Among those he drove to Riverbend were two sisters from the United Kingdom who stay at the Family Reconciliation Center guest house and have corresponded with people on Death Row for decades.
Bill was a devout Christian but believed that no one institution or group had a lock on God. Rev. Mayle gave thanks for how Bill “so tenderly and presently walked among those transitioning from life to life; how he brought his whole self to that ministry; how he brought his whole self to everything that he did, to all the people who he loved.”
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