It’s with a heavy heart that I tell you we lost a Beads in a Box warrior yesterday. Bill Lueck, Karen’s husband of almost 35 years, lost his battle with leukemia on August 8th. He’d been fighting this ugly disease for 17 months. Ever since the birth of Beads in a Box in August of 2004, Bill has been a great supporter of what we were trying to accomplish with this program. Matter of fact, we incorporated several of his ideas. I have memories of traveling in Tucson, Arizona, with Bill and Karen, my first time to experience the world’s largest bead and gem show. Bill and I liked a lot of the same colors of stones, Purple Crazy Lace to be precise. Just the gesture of spending time with Karen and I while we shopped for the business told me that he was very supportive of what we were doing. He took pride in being our pack horse, carrying all our treasures.
When Karen would bring her creations to the office, she’d always let me know if Bill liked them or not. Sometimes she would incorporate his views and sometimes not. I was always amazed that he’d have an opinion. Most husbands tell us what we want to hear - “It’s OK.”
In my beginning beading adventures, I made at least four dozen bracelets wrong. When I found out that I finished them wrong, I was more than willing to take them all apart and redo them. Bill was adamant that I didn’t do that. Karen ordered a soldering iron and Bill soldered each and every one of those bracelets.
I was one of the few people Bill enjoyed having in his home and I frequented there quite a bit. Many times were to sit at Karen’s dining room table to work on inventory. Other times were to spend the night on craft show nights instead of traveling home. Whatever the reason I was there, I’d always greet Bill with a, “Honey, I’m home.” He’d always respond with, “How’s Spike.” He nicknamed me Spike because of my spiky hair. He let me know that he didn’t care for it and when I grew it out, he let me know he really liked it.
Karen and I travel on our beading adventures a lot. Each night she’d check in with Bill and give him the low-down on how our sales were going. He always showed an interest and for that I’m very grateful.
It was a blessing that Bill traveled to Heaven peacefully. Karen now begins another new chapter of her life. It will be filled with all kinds of mixed emotions. Knowing her like I do, Karen will find respite in creating with her polymer clay during her healing time. I can confidently say that Bill will be looking down on her smiling as she creates something beautiful. It’s his turn to tell her, “Honey, I’m home.”
Kyla Martin
