(WBIR) Leading up to our 60th anniversary, 10News has started a new series called "WBIR Legends." All this month we're checking in on former news anchors to see how they're enjoying retirement.
We start with longtime, legendary anchor emeritus Bill Williams. His mother wanted him to take one of two paths in life-- as a concert violinsit or a minister.
Luckily for East Tennessee, Bill chose a different path, that landed him behind the Channel 10 anchors desk for more than three decades.
Life has hardly slowed down for Bill since he retired from the news desk for a second time in 2006.
These days, he's still on the move, exercising at least three times a week.
"It makes me feel better, keeps the weight off, and I get to talk to my good friend Howard Blum who I meet here regularly," said Bill.
"I treasure these moments. I just started doing it about a year. I struggle to keep up with him," said Blum.
Bill fills the void of covering news around the clock with music.
"Not many days go by I don't play the piano," said Bill.
Instead of writing and proofing news scripts, Bill puts his passion into playing.
"I laid the violin down and it's hard to pick it back up, but I picked it back up," he said. "I'm having a little bit of success with it."
Faith remains his focus.
"We're very active in our church, Central Baptist Fountain City. Of course, I sing in the choir and play the piano," said Bill.
Bill blends his voice now with others that includes his daughter, and that's been the constant in his life--- family.
"So much of our lives is tied up in the grandkids. We follow them around. If they are performing or playing in sports or whatever, we're there," said Bill.
And then there are the many, many talks and events where Bill is front and center.
"Used to do at least one hundred appearances a year, two or three a week. I don't do that any more but I'm out there occasionally, Well, fairly often, actually," he laugned.
Just because he's retired doesn't mean Bill is a stranger at Channel 10. He returns for telethons and special events.
On a recent visit to the station, Bill walked into what is now a storage room. It used to be the newsroom.
"It was almost for me, it was almost like a sacred place. There were so many memories there. That's where my career with Channel 10 started," he said.
A lot has changed since Bill left officially left WBIR. Plenty of people have come and gone, but he says one thing remains the same.
"The news, I believe, is a chronicle of conflict and change. That's it. That's what we do as news people who report on conflict and change in our community and world. The news is the same. The way of presenting it has changed," he said.
For a man who thought he was destined to be a minister, the desire and dedication to inform, educate and entertain proved to be his calling.
"I like to think, well I know, that I was destined for a different kind of ministry and it worked out that way," Bill said.
Bill has left a lasting legacy at WBIR, where generations of journalists still learn from his example. And the station itself is located on Bill Williams Avenue, a source of surprise, a little pride, and recently, some humor for Bill.
In the past few weeks, construction across the street from the station displaced the street sign bearing his name. Bill, showing off the sense of humor his friends, family, and co-workers know so well, jokingly posed for a picture next it and posted it on social media. The next day, city crews were there to repair the damaged sign.
In the coming weeks, we'll check in with recently retired Moira Kaye, longtime anchor Carl Williams (no relation to "Brother Bill", despite the nicknames the two men have for each other), and Heartland Series host Bill Landry.
