William (Bill) Burrell came to Manila in 1935 when the important old island firm of Elizalde & Company became Philippine agents for the United States Life Insurance Company.  “There were a lot of things to celebrate on November 15, 1935,” he recalled.  “The commonwealth was established, the U.S. Life agency was opened and I celebrated my 32^nd birthday.”  He went on to establish the agency on a sound footing and in 1936 he was appointed Manager of the Life Department of the company.  Friendly and cosmopolitan, Bill Burrell was part of the new generation of Americans who came to the Philippines as businessmen undaunted by the specter of independence, asking no odds in business, only a fair chance to buy and sell on equal terms with everyone else.

Although he was born in Portland, Oregon, Bill considered himself a Californian.  After going to 14 different public and private schools, in 1919 at age 16 he quit to join the Commercial Pacific Cable Company.  Later he left to return to school, then finally compromised by rejoining to work nights while attending school days.  Somehow while maintaining this schedule with very little sleep, he also managed to find time to play on the school’s football, baseball and basketball teams, in addition to amateur fighting as a welterweight.  In 1923 the Cable Company issued orders to Guam and school was forgotten.  He spent two years there as he said, “mostly growing up.”   In 1925 he was transferred to Shanghai.

It was in Shanghai that he met C. V. Starr, American insurance magnate of the Far East. An article in the Philippines Free Press, Manila dated February 22, 1941 stated that “Starr was so impressed by Burrell’s easy manner and wholesome irreverence that he offered him a job with the American Asiatic Underwriters.”  A year later he was appointed District Manager for South China and in 1930 he took the same job covering Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.  In 1932 he was advanced to Superintendent of Agencies for the Asia Life in Shanghai.  Three years later he arrived in Manila.

A Manila newspaper reported that Bill Burrell was an omnivorous reader with catholic tastes, greatly interested in the philology of the American language.  Golf, badminton, playground baseball and tennis were his chief athletic interests.  He lamented the lack of time which curtailed his activity as a yachtsman; his father, grandfather, great and great-great-grandfather all held master’s tickets, and he said then that he would rather be a yachtsman than anything else.

In 1937 he married Ada Green, an American who had grown up in Manila and whose father was for many years chief of police.  On December 31, 1940, just in time to give him something to celebrate, his son was born.  Two months later, while continuing his old job of managing U. S. Life, he became general manager of the newly organized Reliance Motors, Inc., which took over distribution of Buick and Cadillac automobiles.  “A new baby and a new job all at once,” Bill said happily in an article from the Philippines Free Press, Manila dated February 22, 1941.    

By November with war clouds looming, Bill became increasingly uneasy and persuaded  his wife to leave with the baby for the United States.  On November 27, 1941 they departed on the S. S. President Coolidge.  Days later at the outbreak of war he offered his services to the Army Quartermaster and received an order for delivery of all automotive stocks carried by the Starr Motor group.  Upon completion of delivery on December 31 he went to Bataan and on February 14, 1942, he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the U. S. Army.  On April 9, 1942 he was taken prisoner at the fall of Bataan.

January 15, 1944 handwritten letter from William Burrell – “In civilian life I was in the motorcar business, selling and servicing passenger cars and trucks and in the army I was assigned to the Motor Transport Service in Bataan where I found myself doing pretty much the same thing.  My active army career, therefore, was very prosaic and I recall no exciting experiences, the days and nights being filled with running convoys, assigning vehicles, and looking after necessary repairs to our complement of cars and trucks.  Since the surrender I have been at O’Donnell and Cabanatuan and have managed to exist until the present without serious illness.  Rough estimates give the Bataan mortality since the surrender as 50% so I consider myself extremely lucky to be alive and well now.”

January 19, 1946 letter from Nomesio M. Ortega, former employee, to Bill’s mother, Winifred Northey – “ The last time I have seen Bill is around the middle of 1944 when he was in charge of a group of American Prisoners of War in a big gasoline station on R. Hidalgo Street, Quiapo District, Manila City, near my home.  He gave me a short smile and a wink and nodded to me to leave the place as they are punished by the Jap sentry if caught talking to Filipino civilians.  On Sunday morning of Feb. 4^th, 1945, barely 12 hours after the 1^st Cavalry Division of the American Army entered Manila City in company of my brother and several Filipino guerillas, we went immediately to Bilibid Prison and inquire for Bill.  Our intention was really to get him out of that prison compound.  I was informed by an American P. O. W. that he was taken to Japan around the middle of Oct.  (11^th?) 1944 in company of several other P. O. W. to work in Japanese factories. “

While a prisoner of war in O’Donnell and Cabanatuan, Bill Burrell helped organize and put on shows to entertain the troops.  He and Ada had both been active members of drama groups and it was something he did well.

Ada never remarried and lived to be almost 94.  She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with a headstone that is also a memorial to Bill.  Young Bill, a career Marine and later a member of the Foreign Service, died at 50. 

During PHILAMLIFE’s President Earl Carroll’s visit to Bermuda, he spent considerable time with Paul Danner, former ALICO Philippine Manager, telling Paul about his old friends in the Philippines.  After President Carroll left, Paul wrote letters to his old friends commenting on their achievements.  Following is a quote in a response from PHILAMLIFE’s Manager, Jose D. A. Diao from Cebu City:

“Your letter was very refreshing in that it revived a happy memory of our mutual friend, Mr. Burrell.  I cannot forget what he told me when he visited Cebu with his wife for the first time.  In the course of our conversation about children, I asked him this question:  ‘What is your plan for your child?’  To my great surprise his answer was:  ‘I want my child to love people’.”  He did, he certainly did!