Bill Beckwith established Beckwith's Gym way back in 1984. He was a pioneer of the sport here in West Michigan. Bill is no longer with us in person, but those of us that lift today, even those of us that never met Bill feel a camaraderie with him that only powerlifters can understand. Powerlifting is truly a brotherhood. When we go to battle with the weights it is our powerlifting brothers that help us thru where we might otherwise have given up. By all accounts Bill was a brother and friend to all he met, though you would definetly want to stay on his good side, as he was also a black belt in Karate.

Bill lost his battle with prostate cancer in 1995. Bill thought his pain was from lifting, perhaps a pulled muscle or a disk problem, and so got into the Doctor too late. So get your tests done guys!

Bill was a lifelong proponent of Drug Free Lifting, and in fact back in the 80's when we did not have the Drug Free competitions we have today he quit competing entirely for a while, though never quit lifting.

Back in 1990 before all the advances in supportive gear Bill's best lifts @ 242 were:

Squat - 551

Bench - 402

Dead Lift - 561

Total - 1513

Those of us that never met Bill wish we had. We thank him for the legacy that lives today at Beckwith's gym thru Bill's very good friend, and the man that took over the reigns as leader here at Beckwith's Gym, Ron Ringewold.