Interesting Chemistry

Growing up, Ardenwoods resident Bill Hargrove lived in so many cities that he’s lost count of them all. His father, a Baptist minister, became U.S. Army Chaplain in the late 1930s, providing spiritual and emotional guidance to soldiers during World War II — and for most of his youth, Bill’s family was constantly on the move.

“I went to 12 or 13 schools by the time I finished high school,” Bill said, laughing. “But we did maintain a house in Western Kentucky, near my grandparents, that we returned to when there was no opportunity to be with my father. He ended up stationed in the Pacific, and while we moved around a great deal, we never joined him overseas.”  

Spending his formative years on military bases during this pivotal time, Bill was fascinated by the new and innovative technologies developed for the war effort — like the invention of the nylon parachute, engineered by chemists to replace scarce silk and improve durability.

In fact, Bill was so inspired by the scientific innovation of the time that the inventor of nylon, organic chemist Wallace Carothers, became “kind of a role model for me,” he explained. “I followed his work and read everything I could find about him because it was so interesting to me.”

After graduating high school, Bill attended Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where, in addition to studying chemistry and mathematics, he met his late wife, Bonnie. He then went on to earn a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Vanderbilt University in Nashville — and married Bonnie in 1955.  

“After graduate school, I went to all of these chemical companies, but I wasn’t really happy with the sort of things they were doing,” Bill said. “I spent a summer working as an intern for Shell Oil, and I enjoyed it, but I knew right away that I didn’t want to work there. They had Ph.D.s climbing distillation towers and running plants — and I wanted to find somewhere that focused more on actual chemistry. Interesting chemistry.”  

In 1958, Bill found the work he had been hoping for, accepting a job as a research chemist with Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. There, he was able to use his skillset for the greater good, aiding in the discovery and development of new, life-saving medications and other products used in the medical and agricultural fields.  

“We’d take bacteria from soil samples, and the next thing you know, you have an antibiotic,” Bill explained. “I just liked the quality of the chemical problems, the synthesis of materials, the modification of natural products and chemical structure determination. You somehow have to figure out the structure of the material you just got [in your sample] and whether it’s different than something you’ve seen before.”

Bill worked for Eli Lilly and Company until his retirement in 1993. He eventually transitioned from a research chemist to a role in molecular structures and later became the company’s director of product development.  

In his spare time, Bill belonged to an Indianapolis glider club, flying sailplanes competitively before and after his retirement. “It’s the kind of hobby where you race these things” — unpowered aircrafts — “around a course, finding the lift in the air currents and trying to stay in the air,” he explained. “I enjoyed it very much, and my wife was always with me, driving the car with the trailer.” The couple later took up sailing, taking long breaks from the Indiana winters to sail the cerulean waters and sunny shores of the Caribbean.

When Bonnie’s health began to decline, she and Bill relocated to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to be closer to their son, Bill Jr., and his family. “My son was living there on a postdoctoral after getting a Ph.D. in ecology,” Bill said. Bonnie passed away in 2008, and Bill followed his son in a move to Asheville the next year. “He now works for the U.S. Forest Service in Asheville. So, that’s why I’m here, actually. I wanted to be close to my son and his family. I have two grandchildren: My grandson is a senior at Vanderbilt, and my granddaughter is a senior at Carolina Day School.”

In January 2023, after living alone for 15 years, Bill moved to Ardenwoods, where he thoroughly enjoys the freedom of a maintenance-free life, spending less time on daily household upkeep — and more time reading and socializing in a community of like-minded seniors.  

“It was just becoming difficult to keep everything going around my home, and at 95, I just want my life to be pleasant,” he said. “Here, I get to enjoy all of my activities. I read a great deal. I’m involved in committees and on the Residents Council. And I enjoy conversations with a lot of very interesting people. I’m really very happy here.”