Bill Eckles, who retired last summer after decades of service as the clinical director of the Addictions Rehabilitation Center (ARC) in Piney Point, Md., died May 12, reportedly from heart failure. He was 62.“Bill was a positive influence on so many people,” noted Don Nolan, vice president of the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, which is affiliated with the ARC. “He was committed to his work and he remained a friend to both the school and the ARC even in retirement.”
John Gallagher, director of the ARC, stated, “He’s going to be missed. His contributions to the program here were immeasurable. Really, he’s one of the architects of the program that exists today. That’s one reason he won’t be forgotten.”
Eckles joined the SIU in 1965 in his native Philadelphia. He sailed as a recertified bosun and later earned a second mate’s license before coming ashore in 1985 to work as a counselor at the ARC. He became the center’s clinical director three years later.
Last year, in an interview for his retirement article in the Seafarers LOG, Eckles said he got started as a counselor because he had gone through the ARC when it opened (in 1975) and he “had a desire to put something back into it.”
Previously, in a 1992 piece about the school, Eckles wrote, “I wouldn’t have worked in this field if it wasn’t with merchant mariners. I wasn’t looking for another profession, but going through the ARC program had turned my life around, and I felt I could contribute.”
Eckles retired to Silver Spring, Md.
Funeral services took place May 17 in Philadelphia. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the American Heart Association, 625 W. Ridge Pike, Building A-100, Conshohocken, PA 19428 or the Caron Foundation, 17 Camp Road, Wernersville, PA 19565.
###
Printer Friendly Page