Many of us love Nevada, but the guy we’re writing about today loves the town so much he’s moved back to Nevada three times, and he wasn’t even raised here.
Whether you know him from behind the cash register at the old 8th Street/Lincolnway Kum & Go, from the aisles or cash register of Fareway in Nevada, or another way, Bill Negus is a guy who’s always willing to listen to you.
“Getting to know people is one of my passions,” Bill said. “Getting their story, knowing their backgrounds, understanding what their needs are … I can at least be that person who understands. Maybe I can’t deliver on everything they need, but just being able to lend an ear and have them know they’re being heard, that’s always been me.”
Bill grew up in Newton, where his father worked for 42 years as a mechanical engineer for Maytag and his mother was a middle and high school teacher. He was the youngest of four, having three older sisters who were quite a bit older than he was. “The day I got out of the crib, my oldest sister went to college.”
Bill said Newton was a great place to grow up. “It was just big enough to be diverse. We pulled in some big (performing) names, like I got to see Doc Severinsen. We had a great fireworks show, just like Nevada. It was a hard-working town; lots of working-class folks.”
While in school in Newton, Bill’s favorite extra-curricular activity was band, and more specifically, marching band. He played the trumpet, and took that talent to Iowa State University, becoming a member of the ISU Marching Band.
“I got to go all kinds of places with the band,” he said. “And that’s really where I expanded my huge group of friends, some of whom live here in Nevada. There’s such a closeness (among band members). You get to know everybody.”
While he loved being in the ISU band, Bill struggled to settle on a college major. He started in engineering, but said it was a rough grind. “There were things my mind couldn’t comprehend, because I live in a world where there are only three dimensions,” he noted.
He switched majors to liberal arts, and then later switched to computer science. But the 1980s was a tough time to be in computer science, because things were changing so rapidly in that field. “They were trying to teach a person things that two years from then they wouldn’t be using.”
After all the studying and switching, he left school without a degree and decided to experience the world outside of books. He took his first post-college job at JARCO in Ames, which was a liquor store that delivered to many businesses in the area. “I worked there during the conversion of state-run liquor stores to private stores, and we were the only store that did delivery in the area. That made us very popular,” Bill said.
He learned and worked in all aspects of that business.
He moved to Nevada the first time while working in Ames. Then, he and his wife, moved to Wisconsin. Bill worked in various jobs either retail or technology related. While in Wisconsin, his marriage ended, and he moved back to the Ames area. “I stayed with someone in Nevada for a time (his second move to Nevada), and then I moved to Ames.” Ten years ago, he moved back to Nevada and has stayed.
“I like it here (in Nevada). Less traffic. I like that it has the things people need, and I like Nevada’s location in relation to other areas as well. There are so many things you can get to within 15 minutes.”
Bill enjoys events that include live music, though he’s on the evening shift at Fareway which often means he can’t get to events.
Before working at Fareway, where he’s been for four years and worked in nearly every area of the store, Bill was the guy the regulars got to know at the little Kum & Go Store at 8th and Lincoln Highway. He enjoyed getting to know many regulars while he worked there, and he liked working for Kum & Go.
He also likes his current job at Fareway. “It’s a great group of people to work with and a great facility.”
For roughly half the month of August this year, Bill wasn’t here in Nevada. He spent most of the month recovering from a severe infection, from which he developed sepsis. “I made it to the hospital and within 24 hours, I was being transported to Waterloo’s ICU. Three or four days turned into a week, and then another week and … finally they let me come home.”
Bill said that ordeal was a wake-up call about his health. “But the fact I’m here talking to you is proof that you can persevere,” he concluded.
A few more interesting things about Bill:
Along with music, his other favorite pastime in life has been bicycling. He’s done 30-40 RAGBRAIs through the years. “That’s another community that is fun to be part of … brings together all walks of life, all kinds of people.” Bill also enjoys gaming and ISU sports. He was a Cyclone football season ticketholder for many years.
His favorite movie as a younger person: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail was fantastic.”
His favorite band: Electric Light Orchestra. “I have every single album and CD.”
His memories of 9-11, which recently marked 25 years since it happened: “I remember it well, like it was yesterday. I lived on 61st Street in Des Moines and worked the night before. When I woke up things were already happening (and he didn’t know it). I couldn’t believe how quiet it was, but turned on the TV and saw … Our work told us not to come in that evening. After staring at the TV for hours, I finally went out and got some fresh air, decided to mow the yard. I started mowing and here came four F16s, followed by a 747 with an F16 on either side of it and two F16s behind it. That was President Busch… The entire thing really took you away from your reality for a while.”
What he worries about most for the younger generations: “Truth. Truth gets bent so easily now. With the internet, you can say basically anything and get away with it. You can also speak the truth and have people tell you you’re not speaking the truth. Truth has become a variable instead of a brick … it’s not something we build with any more, it’s something we debate. I find that troubling.”
–Written by Marlys Barker, City of Nevada