Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Bill Case loved cars, music 'up to the last breath.'
Bill Case, known for living his life with flair, did the same thing for his death in advance. A side view is shown of his custom-made casket. The top of the casket included his initials and notations of his Air Force service.
CLOVIS — It takes some people decades to figure what they want to do with their life, but that wasn't the case for Clovis musician Bill Case.
"Once he picked up an instrument at 8 years old, he always just had a thing for it," Case's grandson Josh said.
Case, who passed away this week at the age of 87, was well known in Clovis for his performances of classic rock, country, rhythm & blues and jazz music.
Case's passion for music, especially 1950s and 60s music, led him to perform with nearly every Clovis musician you can think of, but in his early years that passion brought him to the Air Force, of all places.
"That's why he joined the military whenever he did because they promised him he would be able to play in the military band," Josh said.
Case's 27 years in the Air Force brought him all over the world from Greenland to Japan where he met his future wife Ren at the commissary, marrying in 1950.
Josh said at the time members of the Air Force were not allowed to bring their Japanese wives back to the states but after numerous letters to his congressman, the couple were allowed to return to the U.S.
Josh said Case's service to his country was very important to him and Case was proud of retiring from the Air Force as a Senior Master Sergeant.
After retiring from the Air Force, Case started to pursue another passion: cars.
In 1975 Case opened Bill Case Auto in Clovis, partly Josh said, because he owned so many cars that he didn't want to insure all of them.
Josh said his grandfather always had a soft spot for red convertibles, with a red 1959 Cadillac being his favorite.
Case's two passions would collide at the car lot as Josh said in the 1980s Case and his band would set up in the back of Bill Case Auto and practice.
Case also purchased, renovated and opened the State Music Theatre in 1995 in order to provide Case and his groups Bill Case and the Velvetones and the Bill Case Combo a place to perform.
"He was charging $5 a person for people to come in and spend the whole evening listening to music and just have a good time," Josh said. "He lost money every time he opened the door but he didn't care because his passion was just people listening to his music and enjoying it."
Case's passion for music was as strong as ever during the final moments of his life. Josh said a few days before Case passed he and his wife were playing music for his grandfather, and though he was not able to talk at the point, Case still started tapping away when he heard a familiar tune.
"Just seeing his hand start beating and even though he wasn't conscious enough to have conversations with people, but you could just tell that music was his passion up to the last breath," Josh said.
