"Bill Clody, organized Suwanee swim team"
By DERRICK HENRY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/14/04
Bill Clody inspired hundreds of young Suwanee swimmers. In 1993, he founded the summer swim program for his Richland subdivision, and he was president until his death. The community program, for boys and girls ages 3 to 18, fed into the Gwinnett County Swim League, where Mr. Clody was a vice president. Under Mr. Clody’s leadership, annual participation in the Richland Waves team grew to more than 100 young people. Richland Waves swim team founder Bill Clody is shown at a swim meet at Georgia Tech in July 1999. Mr. Clody was also a vice president of the Gwinnett County Swim League.
"Bill was always looking out for the best interests of the children; he wanted to see them succeed," said Angie Johnson of Scottsdale, Ariz., a former resident of the Richland community.
"He was very encouraging to them," Mrs. Johnson added. "He felt that if the children had one area in which they could excel, they would do well in life. Several swimmers on his team won state competitions. Several went to college on swimming scholarships, including my son Chris. Bill was extremely dedicated and had a real impact on the children’s lives."
"Bill bragged on those kids like they were his own," recalled Meg Rooney of Lilburn, the treasurer of the Gwinnett County Swim League. "They brought him a lot of joy."
William F. Clody, 60, of Suwanee died Thursday of a heart attack at WellStar Kennestone Hospital. The funeral is at 1:30 p.m. today at Wages and Sons Funeral Home, Gwinnett Chapel, Lawrenceville.
Soon after graduating from North Carolina State University in 1975 with a business degree, Mr. Clody moved to Atlanta, where he found work in the computer industry.
"He was a computer whiz," said his son, Andrew Clody of Kennesaw. "He was in the forefront of computer engineering, involved with telecommunications companies, paging systems, cellular phones, things like that." "Bill was amazing," said his brother-in-law, Dr. Kenneth Carroll of Norcross. "He built his own computers, and if someone was having computer trouble, he could fix it. There was a time when we were getting pornographic pop-ups, and Bill solved the problem over the phone."
Fascinated by genealogy, Mr. Clody managed the Walker County section of the online GAGenWeb Project, part of the USGenWeb Project. "He traveled to Tennessee and North Carolina and compiled quite a family tree, going back some 200 years," Dr. Carroll said.
Mr. Clody also built his own model trains and helped his son Andrew refurbish a classic Ford Mustang, Dr. Carroll said. "He was a well-rounded person, up to date on everything, even medicine. He knew how to smooth things over and please people. He would listen quietly to a conversation, then could summarize everything that was said and tell you what you should do. Bill was a big man, but gentle as he could be, a gentle bear."
His wife, Emily Clody, died in 2002. Survivors include two other sons, Patrick Clody of Suwanee and Michael Clody of Raleigh.