Thrasher under there ?” to which Bill replied after hitting his head on a beam , “ Who the ____ wants to know ?” without realizing who was asking . Dr . Graham found his response hilarious , and we all went about the rest of the day as if nothing unusual had happened .
As much as Bill was a brilliant renegade , his heart was tied to Suzie , his wife of forty-eight years . Suzie anchored Bill like no one else could . She served beside him at countless events and was quite capable of tech duties herself . In addition , Suzie sings beautifully and served as Bill ’ s audio test generator for hundreds of sound system tunings . Bill and Suzie were the perfect couple ; they complimented each other in dozens of ways , and she supported him without limits .
The most heart wrenching experience of my audio career came after Bill was diagnosed with dementia in 2019 . As an audio engineer at First Baptist Atlanta with my dear friend Mike Bell , we would bring Bill in for special events to work his magic . He could wrangle 64 wireless mics like no one else and always found the most efficient way to produce an event .
One Sunday , Mike had gone into surgery for his back , leaving me alone at the console . To help , Mike hired Bill to assist me as the A2 that morning , but when Bill and Suzie arrived , I could tell something wasn ’ t right . Suzie told me Bill was having a difficult day with his dementia and asked me to make his duties light . Naturally , I did as she asked and handled the rehearsal without laying any responsibility on his shoulders .
However , before the first service started , I had to go to the green room and place the headset mic on Dr . Stanley . I told Bill I would be back as quickly as I could , but if the service started , just unmute the groups and turn on Rodney Brooks ’ mic ; no levels needed adjustment . He nodded acceptance and I ran to place Dr . Stanley ’ s mic . While there , I saw on the video monitor the service was starting and it was clear things were not going well . Rodney
Brooks was visibly upset , so I finished with Dr . Stanley and sprinted back to the console . I found Bill standing over the Yamaha PM1D console , which he helped invent and knew intimately , with a blank stare and frozen hands . I unmuted the groups , brought up Rodney and then helped Suzie ease Bill into a seat near the board . He spent the rest of the service eating M & Ms one at a time and staring straight ahead . I cried throughout the morning upon realizing the one who taught me audio and had more knowledge in his little finger than I had in my entire body , was not there beside me . He was gone . All that was left was his physical shell . Suzie recognized the moment and comforted us both as I struggled to mix through tears and Bill groped for his mind .
Bill ’ s son , lovingly referred to as Thrasher 2.0 since he ’ s a Junior , led his father ’ s memorial service with tremendous humor , poignant remembrances , and great dignity , but his best move was to place his father ’ s ashes not at the front of the funeral home , but in the sound booth at the back , for that is where Bill Thrasher was most at home . In a serendipitous alignment , it just so happened my company installed the sound system at that funeral home , meaning I installed the last console Bill mixed on in his life . The circle remains unbroken .
Kent Morris Kent is a 42-year veteran of the AVL arena driven by passion for excellence tempered by the knowledge digital is a temporary state .