Bill Munis
 

Jan Still on his site has posted a notice of Bill Manis passing away, we have lost a true Luger expert, a fine friend, a beautiful Montana rancher and a friend to all....I had visited this great collector a few time, we all have lost a friend, remember his aged mother in your prayers

Bill Munis aka Mauserlugers was a gentleman and enthusiast, who always had a good word and took the time to encourage a new collector. He will be--is--missed.

--Dwight

Sorry Dwight, I should have added that he was known as Mauserluger.....thanks

I never had the pleasure to know Bill, but very sad to hear of the loss of another trusted member and a source of knowledge. My condolences to his friends and family.

Ron

I talked to a friend of the family. Jeez, this is sad for me. I was just out at his house last week, as I specifically drove out there and visited with my friend Bill. I did know him well, and he was a true friend for me.

Ed

Bill Munis
 

This certainly comes as a shock! I was aware of Bill being ill, but not to the degree of passing on... He will most definitly be missed.. He was a great addition to this fourm, and a wealth of knowledge and experience.. his posts were always based in fact, and right to the point... I respected this gentleman greatly... It is a sad day for us all on this fourm.. til....lat'r...GT

Really SAD news !!!:(

I too am saddened about the passing of Bill Munis. He was a good friend and he will be sorely missed!!

A fellow Montanan , and friend of all luger collectors he ever met. He will be missed. Best to his family. Bill

What a tragic loss to our luger collector community... I had many email exchanges with BIll. He will be missed by more than just this forum.

Makes me wonder what will happen to his Luger database that he kept so up to date... He told me he would never publish it, but had made arrangements for it to be passed on to someone after he died... I just didn't expect that to be so soon... wonder who that someone might be?

My sincere sympathy to his family... may God bless them with comfort in his loss. Howard, thanks so much for letting us know of Bill's passing.

All,

I considered Cowboy Bill to be one of the most knowledgable individuals on Mauser Lugers and enjoyed his company at the Kansas City Shows for many years. I am deeply saddened to learn of his passing.

Tom A.

I am heading out in the morning to Montana, have decided to drive the 960 miles again (in the last 2 weeks) to pay my last respects.

If okay with folks, I will buy flowers and say they are from the forum...

I won't be able to make Reno, already talked to my friend Russ about it.


Ed

Bills Obituary;
http://www.legacy.com/mtstandard/Dea...sonId=16994363

I am on my way back from the funeral. Was very nice, family treated me like family. There were at least 300 people at the funeral!

I am glad I went.

Ed


Just as an aside, the family is not going to rush into the disbursing of the collection and will not take calls asking about it. They are happy to wait for several years before working out the details and have placed all of it into safe storage.

Incredable how some will call just after a death about possessions. It would be interesting to see what there was, but I just never could see calling a widow about something like that.

Hopefully, at their pace, they will give us a first chance on what was in the collection if that's the route they want to take.

Hi All,

I never met him, but it sure looks like the world is poorer with his passing.

I'm sure he is in a better place and that the family & friends will remember him with much love.

broom

Minigun, it is as Bill himself stated " a world class collection".and more important a benchmark for what is correct in Luger production.....not bogus crap pass offed on some uneducated, unsupecting buyer....but a true gentleman in all I ever saw of him.....thanks Ed for going up there and thanks for all you do for the forum

Many of the luger dealers chase the obituary circuit...glad to hear Bill's family know what they have and will take their time.

Howard,

Bill did share with me some time back that when he started out, he was burned on 22 lugers in his collection by the same seller. Bill was the kind of guy that let a beginner like me know that folks all start out the same and so as not to allow me to get discouraged when I ran into that same seller and got stuck with my bogus first luger...his advice to me was to start buying books and attending gun shows and visiting other collectors homes to see their collections. Solid advice from a luger friend we will all miss.

Pete, he did share that with me also, but he would never try and pass them off on someone else....would love once more to meet with you and talk over dealers......some up coming show.....

Met Ed at Philipsberg and attended the funeral with him. The whole town and surrounding area must have been there. Many nice comments about a special man. The collecting fraternity has lost a good friend.

ALL of those lugers are gone.... He traded or sold them as shooters years ago, some he traded back to that same dealer and got different ones... I doubt there is much "bad" in his collection.


http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc01123.jpg
Bill L paid for half of the above flowers that were at the funeral.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/dsc01122.jpg

Ed,

I hope I did not convey that there might be non-legit gun's in Bill's collection. That was not my intent.

Rather, the story was shared to demonstrate this man's character in offering help to a new collector 3.5 years ago.

Thanks to you and Bill Lyon for representing the Luger Forum at his services !!!

Pete, wasn't taken that way by me, but wanted to ensure that the message was clear. :)

Also, the same "dealer" sold many questionable guns to assorted friends of mine, over the years ;)

Ed

Ed,

Noticed a photo of Bill in the newspaper article link you provided.

What's the chance of moving this photo to the Rogues Gallery with Bill's name (in memorium) ? We might also want to do the same with "Schwob" (Bob Spitzer) who passed not to long ago as well.

Maybe you have family contacts who could be asked for permission for both fine gentlemen.

What a great idea....

Bill desired his photo not to be shown. Bob S. is in the rouges gallery already.

Ed

I had never met Ed Tinker until Bill's funeral. It says a lot when a person drives 2000 miles for a friends funeral, I know he furnished needed support for the Munis family. Thats what I call a true friend. Thanks Ed, a pleasure to meet you. Bill

and I meant that as just general knowledge, as I too think it is a good idea.
It is just that I asked Bill if he wanted me to take his picture for the forum a year or so ago (was taking a hundred pictures or so of his collection...), and he said he did not want that. So...


Thanks Bill L., I have few close friends and both Bob S. and Bill were... Tough to lose two friends in less than 6 or 8 months :eek: :(

ed

Oh wow. Bill gave was so helpful and patient and nice. My prayers go out to his family. He seemed a very nice person who will be missed.

Bill, wherever you are, thank you and God bless.

Ed,

Thank you very much for posting Bill's obituary. What a rare person he was. Funny how I knew he was decent, but until you get to read a man's life in a nutshell, you can miss a lot he has to offer. Also funny that I never met him, knew him only from what he posted here on this forum, and yet reading that obituary is like I lost a close friend. What a neat guy. So young. At least he is in a better place. Fishing, maybe. ;-)