William 'Bill' Haynes

William “Bill” Earl Haynes was born on September 7, 1963, to Kay Frances White and Charles Robert Haynes. A Warren County, Kentucky, native, Bill was a student of Bowling Green City Schools. He began his music career and a lifelong love of brass instruments at the age of 12. While in sixth grade, he joined the elementary school band and came home with an old and battered, but well-loved baritone horn. While at Bowling Green High School, he served as a devoted member of the BGHS Marching Band and under Director Cecil Karrick. As a freshman, Bill and the band took a trip to Europe, playing concerts in various cities there.

After graduating from BGHS in 1981, Bill came to WKU on a full scholarship. While on the Hill, he studied performance and education. He ranked 14th in the International Tuba and Euphonium competition in Tucson, Arizona, an incredible achievement. When the time came for the required student teaching, he taught a fifth grade beginning band group and fell in love. He earned his degree in 1986.

He began his teaching career with Ohio County High School Band and continued at Greenville High School Band. He then applied for and received an assistantship at Florida State University. While there, he studied with the eminent music educator, James Croft. Bill’s music talent went beyond teaching. He arranged all kinds of music and wrote marching band drills. After two years, he received his master’s degree in music education.

Bill had a prolific career, serving as director of bands at Hardaway High School in Columbus, Georgia, the founding director at the new Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia, the band director of Creekview Elementary in Alpharetta, Georgia, and finally as the music and drama teacher at E. Rivers Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia. He taught beginning band students and was a computer science instructor and public school music teacher. While at Centennial, he also began working with the Alpharetta City Band. He continued with the city band for the remainder of his life and made many lifelong friends through it.

Music was Bill’s passion and he loved sharing it with others. During his tenure with high school bands, it always troubled him when a student wanted to be in the band but had no funds to purchase a horn. He developed a habit of purchasing instruments at garage sales, yard sales, and estate sales and maintained a stash of horns of his own. Often, if a student used the horn for a couple years, was a good student, and seemed to have a real love for the band, he would simply give them the horn to keep. No matter the need, Bill was always ready to help his friends, students, and co-workers.

Bill was also an avid tech enthusiast, always excited for the newest technology and gadgets. He often combined his two interests, especially when arranging for bands in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and across the country. One of his favorite groups to arrange for and direct was the Pickerington Central High School music program in Ohio. Every summer since 1992, Bill attended band camp, rehearsed the band, worked with the brass groups, and got the Director of Bands, Michael Sewell, “tech” ready for the upcoming marching season. He also assisted the Pickerington Tiger Band when they marched in The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California.

His interest in technology also brought him to the Georgia Multisport Productions family, founded by Jim Rainey. Bill served GMP in a variety of ways, setting up cones for the triathlons at 3:00 am, helping with the chip timing, uploading video material to the website, and doing whatever it took to make a successful race happen. Working for GMP was not a job for Bill, they were more like a family.

Outside of work, Bill also had an abundant life. He was blissfully happy in his relationship with Yongshuai “Kiki” Lai. Together they enjoyed traveling, movies, shopping, and eating authentic Chinese cuisine. He loved her son, Wei Lai, like his own and was a father figure to him.

Bill tragically passed away on December 17, 2016. To honor his memory, his mother Kay established the William “Bill” Haynes Scholarship Fund. The fund assists deserving full-time WKU beginning freshmen who participated in concert or marching band in high school for at least three years. Recipients must also have a 3.0 GPA and be graduates of a public high school in Bowling Green, Warren County, or Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia, or Hardaway High School in Columbus, Georgia. Through this fund, Bill’s legacy lives on in perpetuity.