Class: 1971
Major: History
Residence: Chicago, IL
Deceased: March 2, 2021
Alumni survivors: David Lovell, Ph.D. ’68 P93 (Sibling), Ms. Rebecca A. Lovell ’93 (Niece)
Bill Lovell, aged 71, died suddenly on Tuesday, March 2. After enjoying eight years working for Mitsubishi Company in New York City, he moved to Evanston. He then worked at New Trier High School from 1983 to December 2017 as both a paraprofessional and for many years as a coach of both girls’ softball and basketball. He enjoyed the support of Jan Borja, principal at New Trier Northfield, and with her encouragement was happy and proud to develop protocols for study halls and for other kinds of student encounters, some of which are still used. He felt that especially at a school like New Trier, students needed “down” time and quiet.
The second of four children of a Presbyterian minister and a working mother, Bill was always the ringmaster, the risk-taker, the comedian, and in many ways the communicator to and glue of his family. Flathead Lake in Montana is where the family gathered for many years, with Bill and his brother Jim acting as troubadours for the family and others staying at what was then Hidden Rock Resort. In fact, one year after a campfire filled with family as well as solo singing and great guitar playing, one group of visitors asked how Bill could be hired out, assuming he was the paid, professional performer for the “resort.”
He loved helping people and was exceedingly generous with both time and his limited funds. After retirement, he treated some of his parapro team members to lunch several times. Any time a need arose, Bill always wanted to find a way to help. In the last few months, every time he went shopping with his sister, he insisted on paying for her groceries as well as his to show his gratitude for her help.
Bill was a gifted athlete, playing both soccer and baseball in college. In soccer, his height and great speed, along with skills honed from a year in Germany as a ten-year old, served him well, and he led his Carleton College soccer team to victories around the Midwest. That love of sports and a knack for connecting with kids also resulted in years of coaching at New Trier, both for the summer “fun” games, where he worked with children between six to ten years of age, as well as his official coaching at New Trier. Students and children were always the first to recognize that beneath his stern demeanor lay a loving heart, an infectious sense of humor, and a profound commitment to fairness.
His music, though, was quintessential to him. Over the past sixty years, he took it upon himself to educate his siblings, nieces, nephews and others about musicians they needed to hear, somehow staying in tune even with those much younger than he. Not only did music bring him and others joy, he found it a major source of connection with others. He often took his mini-Bose speaker to work to share pieces with others, including his classical favorite, Mozart’s second piano concerto.
His survivors include his three siblings: David (Cissy Leask), Jim (Kathy Yates), and Betsy Arsenault (Bill) as well as numerous loving nieces, nephews, great-nephews and nieces.
Bill Lovell, aged 71, died suddenly on Tuesday, March 2. After enjoying eight years working for Mitsubishi Company in New York City, he moved to Evanston. He then worked at New Trier High School from 1983 to December 2017 as both a paraprofessional and for many years as a coach of both girls’ softball and basketball. He enjoyed the support of Jan Borja, principal at New Trier Northfield, and with her encouragement was happy and proud to develop protocols for study halls and for other kinds of student encounters, some of which are still used. He felt that especially at a school like New Trier, students needed “down” time and quiet.
The second of four children of a Presbyterian minister and a working mother, Bill was always the ringmaster, the risk-taker, the comedian, and in many ways the communicator to and glue of his family. Flathead Lake in Montana is where the family gathered for many years, with Bill and his brother Jim acting as troubadors for the family and others staying at what was then Hidden Rock Resort. In fact, one year after a campfire filled with family as well as solo singing and great guitar playing, one group of visitors asked how Bill could be hired out, assuming he was the paid, professional performer for the “resort.”
He loved helping people and was exceedingly generous with both time and his limited funds. After retirement, he treated some of his parapro team members to lunch several times. Any time a need arose, Bill always wanted to find a way to help. In the last few months, every time he went shopping with his sister, he insisted on paying for her groceries as well as his to show his gratitude for her help.
Bill was a gifted athlete, playing both soccer and baseball in college. In soccer, his height and great speed, along with skills honed from a year in Germany as a ten-year old, served him well, and he led his Carleton College soccer team to victories around the Midwest. That love of sports and a knack for connecting with kids also resulted in years of coaching at New Trier, both for the summer “fun” games, where he worked with children between six to ten years of age, as well as his official coaching at New Trier. Students and children were always the first to recognize that beneath his stern demeanor lay a loving heart, an infectious sense of humor, and a profound commitment to fairness.
His music, though, was quintessential to him. Over the past sixty years, he took it upon himself to educate his siblings, nieces, nephews and others about musicians they needed to hear, somehow staying in tune even with those much younger than he. Not only did music bring him and others joy, he found it a major source of connection with others. He often took his mini-Bose speaker to work to share pieces with others, including his classical favorite, Mozart’s second piano concerto.
His survivors include his three siblings: David (Cissy Leask), Jim (Kathy Yates), and Betsy Arsenault (Bill) as well as numerous loving nieces, nephews, great-nephews and nieces.
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