by Bob McGlincy, Willwork
A Lifetime of Service
William F. Nixon Sr. November 24, 1928 – July 12, 2024
Son. Husband. Father.
Student. Athlete. Veteran. Teacher. Dancer. Coach. Historian. Businessman.
Oliver Ames High School, 1954-1994.
Multiple Halls of Fame inductee: 1991. 2001. 2004.
President. Willwork. June 15, 1989 – December 31, 2014.
2016 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
“Mr. Nixon” to some, “Bill,” “Willie”, or “Coach” to others, he was a man who performed common roles uncommonly well. He lettered in three sports in high school and later in college. He was a track champion and a Middleweight Boxing Champion. At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the Army and served in Germany. He would return home, go to school on the GI Bill, get married, start a family, and serve his town as a teacher, coach and community leader. His varsity basketball teams won eleven championships in twenty-four seasons, and at one point posted thirty-eight consecutive wins. He believed in excellence and instilled that belief in others, impacting the lives of thousands.
A Life Lived. A Life Shared.
Bill was born in Brockton Massachusetts. At the time, the city was one of several “shoe capitals” in New England with over one hundred manufacturing facilities. His parents, Francis and Mary, worked in those factories, where they became shop stewards. Brockton later would be called the “City of Champions” because of Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, and because of the quality of its high school sports programs.
Bill was an only child and excelled in both team and individual sports. At Brockton High, he lettered in football, basketball, and track – all sports he would later coach. He set a record running the 440. Upon graduating in 1946, he enlisted in the Army, along with nineteen friends and classmates. He served in Germany as part of the post-war reconstruction and enrolled in Stonehill College in the fall of 1949. He graduated in four years with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and would earn a Master’s in Education from Bridgewater State College in 1958. While at Stonehill, in addition to being a star athlete in multiple sports, he played semi-pro football for three years, served as Class President for two years, and in 1953, he was the Intercollegiate Middleweight Boxing Champion.
In 1953, Bill married his long-time love, Helen Nichols. They moved to Easton MA that year, raised eight children, and stayed married for fifty-five years, until Helen’s untimely death in 2007. A devout Catholic and believer in family values, Bill attended church regularly with his family, and would follow it with a traditional Sunday supper.
In 1954 Bill commenced his career at Oliver Ames High School. For the next forty years he would teach history and coach four different sports, starting with Freshman football and JV basketball. During his tenure, his basketball teams won 599 games, eleven championships, and had a winning percentage of .742. He coached football for 28 seasons, track for six, and baseball for three seasons (including one league championship). More important than winning, Nixon believed in instilling character and values in the athletes and students in his charge. He started one of the first girl’s basketball camps in the country, summers at Stonehill College, and recruited professional NBA players like Calvin Murphy and Sam Jones to help teach teamwork and other fundamental skills.
He was President of the Easton Teachers Association as well as Chairman of their Negotiating Committee. He was active in community affairs, youth athletics, and regularly attended town meetings
Halls of Fame and Other Honors.
Bill Nixon was inducted into the Massachusetts Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 (pictured left with sons Bill and Jim). He was inducted into the Oliver Ames High School Hall of Fame in 2004.
Prior to that, he entered the Stonehill College Hall of Fame in 1991. That same year he received the Easton Educators Association Award for Outstanding Service. He was the recipient of the Easton Lions Club Special Appreciation Award in 1995 and received the Easton School Committee Paul Revere Bowl.
In 2008, the Oliver Ames High School Gymnasium was re-named in his honor.
In 2016, President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Willwork Years.
Bill Nixon Jr began recruiting trade show workers in Boston in 1983. He founded his first company in 1987, naming it “Willwork” for two reasons: the individuals were chosen because they were willing to work; and because many of them had worked for his father and were known as “Willie’s Workers”.
Bill Nixon Sr ascended to the corner office as President of the company in June of 1989. He brought his optimism, charisma, wit and charm with him, and he helped to establish an enjoyable, energetic culture. He oversaw the office, managed profitability, reviewed AR, AP, and collections, met with employees, distributed the mail, and handed out paychecks (for those show-floor workers that wanted to pick up the checks in-person, instead of waiting for the mail). He retired at the end of 2014 but would continue to come into the office on a daily basis (when not playing golf) until the pandemic hit.
Willwork creates labor and technology solutions for experiential marketing applications, including tradeshow exhibits, corporate events, brand activations and themed retail environments.
Bill Nixon was a firm believer in giving back to the community. In addition to providing jobs and creating opportunities for individuals, Willwork helps local charities and organizations that support people experiencing homelessness. They have assisted with various local organizations and shelters including the David Jon Louison Center, My Brother’s Keeper, and School on Wheels of Massachusetts. The company also supports the Arthur C Luf Children’s Burn Camp and the local YMCA.
Survived by some of his children, grandchildren, one great grandchild, and the thousands whose lives he greatly impacted (not including the tens of thousands whose lives he touched), Bill Nixon will be missed, but not forgotten.
