Following are Dick Wells' letter, a few pictures that hold fond memories, and our letter to Mr. Watters' family.  Instructions on contributing to the KeepAndBearArms.com Memorial Fund and submitting your personal farewell to your loved on are also contained below.

After nearly 30 years' association, my close friend, confidant and hunting partner went to his reward. I miss him greatly. His attributes were as many and noble as any man who has walked this earth, short of Jesus. I often thought: "If I couldn't be me, I'd want most to be like him."

He was an "Odd Fellow," frequently, without hesitation; he would drop his own affairs to go to the aid of someone in need. I've known him to lend a helping hand to people he'd only just met. I saw him give money to strangers who lost their home & possessions to fire.

There's a church in my hometown that had its beginnings because my friend, a sawmill operator, sawed the donated logs into lumber to construct the church's first building.

I saw him damaged by others, and I marveled when he simply shrugged off the pain. Never once did I hear him say anything bitter to, or about anyone.

We shared some really primitive camps at times on our hunting & fishing trips. On one trip, in Alaska's Gulkana Basin for moose and caribou, we were stuck in a makeshift cabin for three days of a seven-day hunt due to rain & low over-cast. If my friend hadn't been there, we would have really been miserable; but his good nature and gentle spirit kept us all in good humor. He was 64 years old at the time and he didn't let that stop him from doing his share of the work packing a moose the eight miles back to camp!

Billy left the world a better place for those who enjoyed the high privilege of calling him friend. I can think of no more fitting tribute to my dear hunting partner, and fellow gun owner, than to initiate the KeepAndBearArms.com Memorial Fund with my gift in the name of Billy M. Watters, of Thompson Falls, Montana.

Happy Trails old friend...

Dick

TO: 
The Watters Family

FROM:
KeepAndBearArms.com
Angel Shamaya
Founder/Executive Director
P.O. Box 32992
Phoenix, AZ  85064-2992

May 21, 2001

Dear Friends in the Watters Family,

A close friend of Billy's, Dick Wells, contacted our organization in hopes we might implement a memorial fund and provide him some space on our website to show his love for Billy. Attached you will find the letter he asked us to share with our members and site visitors. Our work involves the defense of the right to keep and bear arms, and it seems Billy exercised his right in a most honorable way, leaving a legacy of good in his wake. It is therefore our pleasure to accommodate Mr. Wells' request, and we have done so.

Having just seen my grandmother pass on to the hereafter, perhaps I know what you might be feeling. From my time on the phone with Dick Wells, I gather that Billy and my grandmother were the same age. As I was never successful at convincing my grandmother to pick up a firearm and have some fun, I'm trusting that Billy will take care of that for me. I'm sure the shooting ranges are top notch where they are now, and I'm betting the ammo is cheaper, too.  (Anyone who says we can't shoot after graduating from life is going to a different place than I am going!)

I would like to take a quick moment to thank you for all the good things Billy brought into our world, all the lives he touched, and the many blessings he left behind. I believe Dick Wells when he tells me we lost a good man in Billy, and I send warm and genuine wishes of graceful, easy healing for each person in your family as you realize that though you cannot hug and hold him any longer, he's shining bright inside your hearts and surely still whistling his favorite tunes.

Back in '87, my only blood brother left our world prematurely. As I went through my grieving process, I came to terms with the fact that what felt like a loss would morph into a gentle acceptance of what is. During that process, I wrote the following poem. If anyone out your way is in need of comfort, please feel free to share my letter, and this poem -- and give 'em a bear hug for us over here, would ya?

Respectfully,

Angel Shamaya
KeepAndBearArms.com