The Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) and the City of Cincinnati has lost a caring and passionate professional. Bill Blevins, 45, was hit by a car in Delhi Township on Friday, December 29th. He died Tuesday evening, January 2nd 2007, at University Hospital as the result of his injuries.

Bill was CRC's Supervisor of Outdoor Maintenance and did an outstanding job transforming over 160 sites.  You will not find a playground, athletic field or park that Bill and his team have not improved over the last six years.  They have become a point of pride in each neighborhood.   He was a great family man and an example of a true public servant.

Bill had been a CRC employee since 1984. He started as a seasonal and part-time employee, and became full-time in 1987. He progressed through the ranks as a Crew Leader, Turf Manager and Service Area Coordinator. He was currently Supervisor of Parks/Recreation Maintenance & Construction, in charge of the department's Outdoor Maintenance Division.

Bill played a pivotal role in creating and maintaining CRC's "Green Team" - an employment opportunity for youth & teens. He also received Departmental recognition for his creation of CRC's Ball Diamond Renovations program.

Recreation Director Jim Garges said, "He was a wonderful man and a special person who totally transformed our Outdoor facilities.  His leadership, optimism and can-do attitude were examples for all of us.  Bill took a great deal of care, passion and pride in his work.  He was a family man who loved to talk about his wife and children and share the fun they had together."

At a glance, Blevins' life was like many others. During Christmas, he put up lights. For fun, he played golf and Scrabble.  But those who knew the 45-year-old father of three said he was a man who took normal activities and did them bigger and better than most.  Blevins was known in the neighborhood as the man who took a few Christmas lights 15 years ago and ended up with 100,000 twinkling bulbs across his front yard.

"It took about three months out of his year, but you couldn't tear it away from him," said Mr. Blevins' brother Dennis. "It was sheer joy for him."  The Christmas display, with more than 500 figures, drew thousands of spectators and at times backed up traffic on Zion Road on the West Side. That was exactly like him, his family said.  "He was always raising the bar," Dennis Blevins said. "It was just indicative of who he was. He would set high goals for himself and exceed other people's expectations."