Bills’ legacy honored during PIF week

SWCC auto students are continuing to take care of their late program founder Gordon Bills, utilizing Pay It Forward week on April 21 to clean the yard of his widow Barbara.

Southwestern Community College’s automotive program was founded just months after the college itself in 1966.

“I started the program for the auto body class in January ’67, the first year we started vocational programs,” Gordon said in a 2016 interview. “The state (eventually) bought us some tools, but we didn’t have any when we first started.”

By 1970, the automotive program was moved to its own department on the newly constructed SWCC campus on West Townline Street. While Gordon retired in 1995, the program has continued to bloom since then, now a popular option for local students.

“I had a lot of great students and a lot of great parents,” he said. “The most students I ever had was 20 students back-to-back for two years, and that was a lot of students for a vocational program.”

Even after retiring, Gordon continued to give back to Southwestern. Upon his death in 2022, a scholarship was established in Gordon’s name for the SWCC auto body program.

“I’m really glad to have started the program,” Gordon said. “I think a lot of Southwestern Community College, and there’s always a demand for auto body people. As long as there’s that demand, the program will keep going.”

As students and staff at SWCC began preparing for Pay It Forward week early in April, word reached the auto department that 92-year-old Barbara had a broken arm and recent storms had damaged her property.

“Our students chose to serve by cleaning up the acreage of downed tree branches, grateful for the foundation Gordon had set forth establishing the program and paying it forward,” a post by SWCC Collision Repair/Refinish Program on Facebook said.

Students and staff across campus found many ways to pay it forward to the community. Other activities included walking dogs from Creston Animal Rescue Effort, cleaning the sides of area highways and volunteering at the Creston Middle School track meet.