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ill Creel retired to Oriental, but he was not really the retiring type, in any sense of the word. His wife Elaine says that even in retirement, Bill “always needed to work.”

Bill Creel.

Some Oriental residents may have met Bill in his last job. In May, he went door to door and counted heads as a Census worker. Those who knew him there and in his other work in the area recall an outgoing man.

On July 5, the longtime firefighter passed away. Bill Creel was 73.

Bill Creel, at right in photo, taken with other Philadelphia firemen in the late 1960s.

Bill Creel was born in Philadelphia in 1936. He served 6 years in the US Navy and worked for a time in the late 1950’s at a mining company in what was then the Belgian Congo.

But on returning to Philadelphia, he started a career in firefighting that would stretch for more than 40 years and span two retirements.

“Fighting fires,” Elaine says, “that was his love. He was pretty gutsy.” Not only did he go in to burning buildings and risk his life, Elaine Creel notes, but he also sought postings in parts of the city, such as North Philadelphia, that had the most fires.

The firemen gave each other nicknames. One of Bill’s was “Double Double.” That stemmed from something Bill said to a bartender after a particularly tough work day. As Elaine recalled the other day, “He said, ‘Give me a double. No, make that a double double.’”

Another name Bill earned along the way was “Whirlybird”. Elaine says that for years, she thought it was because he worked on helicopters during his Navy years. But another Philadelphia firefighter and friend of Bill’s told her this week that that nickname came because Bill walked “duckfooted,” which didn’t escape the notice of the guys he worked with for 48 hours at a time.

A commendation to Bill Creel and other firefighters who saved the lives of five people in a 1966 fire.

After a quarter century with the Philadelphia Fire Department and rising to the rank of Lieutenant, Bill retired. But not for long. He went on to work another 18 years as the fire marshal at Allentown State Hospital.

Seven years ago, in 2003, he retired again. But even after moving to Oriental, Bill Creel didn’t leave the fires entirely. He volunteered with the Southeast Pamlico Fire Company.

Bill Creel on the waterfront in Philadelphia .

While Bill spoke with the staccato of Philadelphia, his interest in his family’s genealogy drew him farther afield. Some relations — Reuben and Enrique Creel — had been political forces in Mexico. Meanwhile, some ancestors were Creek Indians from Alabama who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Bill took part in re-enactments with a South Carolina regiment.

Because of that connection, he initially wanted to retire to South Carolina. Elaine says she vetoed that on the grounds there were alligators there. They moved to Oriental instead, in May 2003.

Elaine and Bill Creel at a whitewater rafting trip in the Poconos in the 1980’s.

In addition to his volunteer work with Oriental’s fire department, Bill also gave his time and efforts to the HOPE Clinic and to the Caring Carpenters who built ramps for low-income handicapped residents of Pamlico County. He worked as a substitute teacher at Arapahoe Charter School and played Santa at the library at Christmas time. He served as President of the Pelican Players, and put on its last production, “Life Goes On.”

Bill Creel as Santa for kids at the Pamlico County Library.

Elaine says that while her husband may have “retired too late in age to try new things, I think he enjoyed” what he did do.

He had also been very active at St. Thomas Episcopal Church where he was a member of the Vestry and was a Church warden. A lifelong Episcopalian, Bill first attended church with “his gran” a native of Yorkshire, England. At the service at St. Thomas on Wednesday, bagpipes will be played, in keeping with the tradition for firefighters.

Elaine and Bill Creel.

In addition to Elaine, his wife of 30 years, Bill Creel is survived by his sons William, of Oriental, and Vincent, of Spokane, Washington.

Friends are invited to gather at 5907 Oak Lane at 7p Tuesday evening, July 13 to share memories of Bill and prayers. Elaine says they’ll be raising glasses of Jamesons to help Bill “on his journey.” The funeral service will be at St. Thomas Episcopal Church the next day, Wednesday July 14 at 2p.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 402 Freemason St, Oriental, NC 28571, or the Civil War Preservation Trust, 1156 15th St NW Suite 900 Wash. DC 20005

Posted Monday July 12, 2010 by Melinda Penkava