From Isha Lerner: For us all, yesterday hit pretty hard, and for each of us, we experienced our own personal feeling/expression concerning the loss of Sarge’s presence on earth.
Sarge was a universal spark, offering each of us a feeling of being loved with his sincere curiosity and interest in our life. He complimented with an awe of excitement and enthusiasm for the little things, and loved bringing gifts and flowers (his love of Costco) to enhance any gathering. He was always on the go. He dashed in and out of the gatherings with a sleeping bag and a floor cot in hand, ready to sprint into action at any time. His imagination was wild, full of ideas, especially about his little house in Lone Pine, a place he cherished and longed for it to fulfil its purpose.
He was inclusive, accepting, and endearing. Things he liked talking about … like how very cool and intriguing Doug’s place was in Madison, his past connection with Peter Caddy and the early days at Findhorn and how he wished he had been more courageous back then to take on more of a role at Findhorn, how much he loved women, and how beautiful each one was and how he adored each one. I remember his humour, a funny caring heart regarding the foibles of each of us … the acceptance and the recognition that we are all ok, the sincere look in his eyes when we shared something deep and meaningful with him, his love of his daughter Sarah, her birth story and his wedding story that virtually changed his life. He loved to drive, and would share his Uber experiences and the stories of the rides.
Oddly, he had just dropped people off at the Redmond airport and thankfully didn’t wait for more Uber passengers to ride back to Bend with but drove straight home. He somehow lost control of his vehicle and went straight into a huge truck … he went instantly … same way as Peter Caddy.
The news of the accident hit the local papers and internet and there was his name, our friend, our Billy/Sarge, the deceased.
Two things came to mind as I read the article:
First, how many times does news of a fatal accident comes to our attention, we read it, hear of the hours of traffic delays, and we are curious … who was this unfortunate soul who died in the crash? And then, we hear that it’s our dear friend, his name announced, someone many, many people don’t know nor have heard of before … and it’s Sarge. Our Billy/Sarge.
Secondly, I woke up with a cosmic chuckle, first one, and looked out and said to Sarge … (looking at his cane that I’d placed on my table yesterday with flowers. He had left the cane behind from our gathering in June). “Hey Sarge, you don’t need the cane, you can fly now … and you made headlines on your way out … you cheeky fellow you!!! ”
I will miss him.
xo Isha
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From Rebecca Wade:
Thanks for painting such a great picture of Billy (Sarge), Isha. I remember how fondly he would speak of you.
It’s interesting, I can’t help but feel great joy at Billy’s passing. I’m sure he’s having the time of his life, or I should say, the time of his afterlife.
When I read the news article of the accident I marvel at how no one else was injured. He side swiped two cars and then hit a truck head on. He was a good driver, so I suspect he was already unconscious when he crossed the center line. Surely his angels were guiding the car.
Bon voyage Billy. I’ll see you again in a while.
Rebecca (AKA Becky Morgan, as I was known when I first met Billy)
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From Michael Davidson: Meetings of the heart; sometimes in life people go out of their way to befriend you; Sarges friendship was unique and personal and the ex pat Findhorn circle community was the perfect place to meet up with these amorous Gypsies; and Sarge was right there leading the way; always with the good word always the loving embrace; I will deeply miss his character and company.
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From Susan Lucas: One day, after the Gathering at Isha’s in July last summer, 2025, Billy and I went and rented bicycles and had a beautiful ride along the river. Then had a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant.
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From Carly Newfeld: Billy/Sarge left this life just before Christmas which prompts me to describe our longtime pal as a year-long Santa Clause. That quality about his generosity of spirit, joy and kindness to all was infectious in the best way. Billy arrived at Findhorn for a short time in 1971 and soon returned for several years working in Pubs and writing articles about our fledgling community. He was the only community member who got away with calling Peter Caddy “Pete” to his face which at first vexed him but soon Peter took it in his stride. Fly free good friend.
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From Buffy Draper: I am reminded, reading Becca’s words, that one of the MANY books Billy has given me over the years is “The Afterlife of Billy Fingers” which suits him now … yes Sarge … you deserve
it! You left us with many wonderful stories.
Billy brought me into the Lorians; he drove with me across country; he joined me at many gatherings … family & friends.
He became a UBER driver at my son’s wedding in Bend in 2017, and has enjoyed driving for others ever since … his way of service … his ANWA, so to speak … and what a way to go!
Billy you have left a space open in my heart. my heart strings pulled by the music and good times we shared … and just as I came into Bend (OR) and began to weep your loss, I gathered with our Findhorn community to celebrate the Winter Solstice in the Hall and we picked the angel of COMPASSION.
You are still with us … in spirit & soul, may you rest in peace, my dear friend.
blessings * buffy
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From Doug Hoyt: For someone with such depth of feeling & understanding, and such breadth of personal & spiritual overview and perspective, he sure was one hell of a fun guy to be around. Always gracious, deeply caring, impeccably thoughtful & kind, so fully genuine – – he made everyone feel at ease, and appreciated, and loved, and whole. A perfect joy.
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photos from Kathleen Thormod Carr:
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From Hugh Ferrar:
I am reminded that it was Billy Sargent who was partly responsible for me ending up at Findhorn for eight years.
I had been living in California for just over a year with an expired visa when the authorities caught up with me and gave me ten days to leave. So I found myself in London out of work and at a very loose end when I remembered a friend had given me a pamphlet about a community in Scotland that needed staff to run a hotel for six months.
That pamphlet was the Open Letter on Cluny Hill which had been put together by pubs under Billy Sargent’s direction. I applied for a job and it lasted eight years!
Billy left not long after I arrived in the spring of 1976 but long enough for us both to have connected so that some thirty or forty years later after much water had past under the bridge of life, we both happened to be participants in a workshop taking place just a mile or two from where Linda and I had made our home in Oregon. I did not recognize anyone in the workshop and he was introduced to me as Sarge. Or William Sargent. After much deep reconsideration I suddenly recognized “Billy”! We have been friends ever since.
Dear, dear Billy.
He joined our email circle and has been a part of our gatherings ever since.
Fly free sweet Billy. Leave all the cancer and other worries behind. You are forever part of our Findhorn experience.
Hugh
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Obituary by Billy’s brother John
William Longhway Sargent, (“Billy”, “Sarge”), age 79, of Bend, Oregon, was involved in a fatal auto accident in the early evening of December 16, 2025.
Billy grew up in Wabasha, Minnesota, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Summers were spent fishing, cruising the river, wandering sandbars. Winters had skating upriver, starting wood fires on the snowy ice to fight off the frostbite.
Bill graduated from Wabasha High School in 1964. He attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, until his enlistment in the US Army First Air Calvary. He served 2 tours of duty as a medical corpsman in Vietnam, returning home in 1970.
Billy then worked to finish his undergraduate college. He received his BA degree from Metropolitan State College in Minneapolis, MN, in 1975. After which, he spent several years living and studying at the Findhorn Spiritual Community in Findhorn, Scotland. Outside of his daily routine, he often plunged with his fellow community members in the extremely frigid Moray Firth to achieve enhanced awareness and sensitivity. His visits to Iona, an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides and its Abbey, which was established by an Irish monk in 563 AD and played a central role in bringing Christianity to the Scots and Anglo-Saxons, were the subject of many of his tales. These deeply felt experiences imbued all of his remaining life. His view was always upwards, towards the light. Bill relocated to San Francisco, CA, in 1979 and earned his MA in education from Stanford University in 1982. Billy pursued a career of teaching high school classes in English composition and digital photography in San Francisco, and later in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. About this time, Bill established his spiritual home in the high desert of Lone Pine, CA, in the shadow of Mount Whitney, and cherished his sense of this place ever after.
Bill met his future wife, Carol Barrett, while pursuing his PhD degree from the Union Institute. He was awarded his PhD in 1991. In 1992, Bill and Carol married in San Francisco. Their daughter, Sarah, was born in 1993, and the family shortly afterward moved to Battle Ground, WA, and later Longview, WA. After retiring from teaching, Billy moved to Bend, Oregon, where he lived until his death. Bill enjoyed meeting new people and connecting with his community while driving Uber.
One of Billy’s primary pleasures was sunbathing, which he found invigorating and meditative. Unfortunately, Billy’s sun worship had a downside. Bill was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma just months before his seventieth birthday. He was projected to have a year to live. Miraculously, he found an experimental drug in a clinical trial that sent him into remission, and he remained in remission for almost ten years. Defying medical advice, as he commonly did, he continued to indulge in sunbathing whenever he had the chance.
He was preceded in death by his father, William Burnell Sargent, his mother, Clara Alice Longhway Sargent, and his brother, James Louis Sargent. He is survived by his daughter, Sarah Caryl Sargent, his ex-wife, Carol Barrett, his brother, John (Ruth) Sargent, and his brother, Michael Sargent.
Bill’s generous and magnanimous nature endeared him to all he met throughout his life.
Retired public school teacher. Father of one daughter. Living alone and traveling occasionally. Died in Bend, Oregon Dec 2025.
You are loved Billie wherever you are!