Bill Lueckenhausen

(16 November 1944 to 14 September 2001)

Big Bill, as everyone on the Brunei Hash House Harriers knew him, died suddenly on Friday 14^th September 2001. When he passed away, he was doing what he truly loved – running on the Hash in the jungles of Brunei, as he has been doing for the last 20 years in Brunei, and before that in Indonesia and Singapore, and on many InterHashes.

Bill’s larger than life persona touched many, many people throughout South East Asia. His love for life was infectious and awesome. He loved this region, its peoples and its jungles and he displayed that love in his very open and direct way to whomever he met. Usually on the Hash, that was with a beer or three, the tinnies looking small in his large and generous hands. No one more so than Bill could be so at ease with local and expatriate Hashers alike. His friendship was open, kind and as generous as his size, and knew no barriers of race, creed or nationality. With a tin in his hand, he would talk with anybody.  Without a tin in his hand, he would talk with anybody. He was respectful of others’ opinions, always listened, and was not afraid to give his own opinions. He was respected by all.

His voice  spoke with true authority, and all listened. Many a Hash evening, usually later on in the mellow glow of friendship, could a booming voice be heard, “ Have you not got any wives or kids to go home to?” (He was always gracious enough to accept the response to this question.) And at the singing of the Hash anthem, who would stand tall at the center of the circle of friends? Big Bill.  His Hash Hierarchy role as The Religious Advisor was much more than a jocular mismanagement title. It was one of serious advice on matters important to the Hash. He was a compass for the Hash, giving a firm and unwavering sense of direction, true to the spirit of Hashing. He led the Brunei Hash in true mismanagement spirit as Joint Master from August 1983 to September 1984. Bill, in many ways, was always out there in front.

 Bill was anything but exclusive as a Hasher. Before coming to Brunei, he had run with the Jakarta and Singapore Hashes. In 1980 he joined the Brunei Hash, and had been the most faithful of Hashers since then to the present. But Big Bill firmly believed in the inclusiveness of Hashing whether that be the Brunei Hash or the Bandar Seri Begawan Hash or the Hetero Hash or the Junior Hash or the Brunei HardCore Hash or … well, you name a Hash in Brunei, and Bill has run on it and shared more than a few beers with good friends across the Hashing world of Brunei.

 Bill was a fortunate man indeed to have Janet as his wife, who understood his powerful love of Hashing and life in general, and who supported him and allowed Bill the freedom that he needed, to be Bill. We grieve with her and with Bill’s family, and give thanks for the opportunity to have known him, through the strange and inexplicable comradeship of Hashing.

As Big Bill himself would have said,

 “ON ON!”

JM’s Mike and Jim

The Brunei Hash House Harriers

September 2001