For those who knew him, Billy Mercer (Ironhart) died today of pneumonia at age 54. I know he really liked a lot of you here, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He will be missed. vggarcia@ix.netcom.com

My heartfelt sympathy to his family. He will be missed.

Oh no! That's terrible! My thoughts and prayers are with his family. He will certainly be missed.

That is tragic. He was a wonderful artisan and a gentle man. He was always kind, and ever generous. There are too few of his kind around. I agree .... he will be greatly missed.

Damn ...

Very sad. And so young. My condolences to his family.

Such sad news. My thoughts and prayers to his family.

OMG!! He was so YOUNG!!! My condolences to his family and other friends.

this is truly a sad day i am sorry to hare warm hugz to his family and friends

YES, I did like him! We IM'd many times. He seemed troubled (depressed) to me several months ago and we spent several IMs "talking" about it (I'll respect the privacy of it...but he didn't talk about any kind of problems like this). I never knew him to be anything but kind-worded. Respectful of his customers (and refusing to put things on sale for respect of people who had paid full price already). It tears me to blurriness to think about it and I HATE it! I just HATE it! Is there anywhere one can send condolences? Does anyone know? It only seems fair that his loved ones should hear from the customers/"friends" he made here. It's just NOT FAIR!

I know he's got a great house where ever he is now. He will be missed. Very sorry to hear about his passing.

My condolences to his family. This is a lost to this community as well.

That is very sad.

Whoah... I never really knew him, but I knew his work. He will be missed.

What will happen to his things for sale? (i am NOT looking for free stuff). I noticed that his stuff is still available at the marketplace?

Ohh! my sincere condoleance...i don't know her but in this moment i pray for her family and her friends too! I make a moment of silence to dedicate her a respect! Take care of you ...all

It is truly very sad to get news like this but I am sure that he is in a much better place now. I wish god to give strenght to his family and loved ones.

Thanks so much for letting us know, condolences to his family, he will be truly missed.

He was so young...I am shocked! I pray for him and all his family and friends. Billy you have been loved and you will be missed.

This just happened today so I don't know what plans his family has. He has a cousin and an aunt, and that's about it, and neither has an email they can be reached at. So far as his products go, they will apparently remain up until they just drop off the system. Anyone who buys something will basically just give paypal the money since there is no way for anyone to log in and do anything with his account.

Someone said he had been depressed, and i agree. The last 5 months I hadn't seen him much since it's my busy time at work, but the rest of the year i'm hanging almost daily at his crib. I too noticed some real problems with him over the past year. He did seem depressed, he slept weird hours (all day somtimes), his moods were weird, he was always stressing to cover the bills, and he just--for lack of a better way to say it--seemed to be losing touch with the world. He refused my offer of some antibiotics, didn't want me to come over to check on him, stubbornly refused to go to the doctor, I've been told, and went instead to his cousin's to try and get better from what he thought was a severe allergy problem. I too have been having a bad cough for 6 months from the bad air here, and in Billy's case it seems that whatever he had turned into pneumonia (or so we think, but we don't know).

I am so pissed off at myself because I didn't realize how sick he was. He phoned me last saturday to say he was going to his cousin's, asked me to IM his girlfriend about that, and he sounded so bad I didn't even recognize his voice and told him he had the wrong number! I thought it was just the allergies, and that he'd get better after he got out of his house. YOU JUST DON'T THINK SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN A PART OF YOUR LIFE FOR 25 YEARS COULD ACTUALLY BE DYING!

Had I but known how serious the thing was, I would have done SOMETHING to help him. But I just could not imagine it could be that serious. Learn from my mistake, folks: If you've got a friend who's really sick and won't go to the dr, call 911 if you have to.

I found out about this from his friend steve, who was called by the cousin. He too is really down because he had a whole bottle of penicillin he could have given Billy, but he didn't know he was sick. From what the cousin says, Billy just leaned over today on the bed and died this morning.

His online girlfriend still doesn't kno, tho I emailed her. I hated to tell her like that but there was no other way.

He was always doing this forum stuff when I was over, and I know he really loved some of the people here like Lynn White and Ginny (I'm afraid I don't know the other people he interacted with).

I do hope, as someone said, that he has a wonderful house somewhere beyond.

this is such a bummer...and a shock. my condolences.... we were just discussing some things about new items awhile back....man...

I can only hope and pray that he has a little Tudor Townhouse somewhere that has clean air and sunlight. Shade and sweet water, Ironhart, you will be missed by your friends and fans.

On the winds and over yonder... In your heart his death do ponder... Bearer of the Iron Hart... Going somewhere off the chart.... Onwards to the stars you go... Always in our hearts you know... Bye Bye Billy.... We'll miss you.

My prayers go out to the family and friend and he will be surely missed .

Talent plus and a heart of gold. :(( My sincere condolances to his family, girlfriend and friends. Rest in peace Billy, you will be missed.

:(

Yes, vggarcia, it was me who also noticed. But when you are just an Internet friend, you figure you can only go so far into really personal life. And I didn't really matter enough for him to open up a lot to me, but...well...I just didn't know he might be sick with something lingering. I don't know why this affects me the way it does but I've always been a softie (one of the reasons why my wife says she loves me). Sometimes, when I see the absence of someone, I wonder if I should take the "dark road" and ask...but I usually just wait to see if it's just a matter of a person being too busy. I sometimes wonder if a person reknown for posts who makes no posts has had something happen that we may never know about. Though I'm very saddened to hear about Billy, I'm glad there wasn't just silence. It would really be nice if someone would/could tell me where to send condolences. (my wife keeps asking me why I'm sad tonight and she doesn't understand he wasn't just a merchant)

:( oh man. He was a great guy, and a good artist and always very generous with his time. I regret he'll never see his products published in my novel. What a loss Lyrra

It's too bad that he died, but don't beat yourself up for it. He refused your help and refused to see a doctor. You can love and care for someone intensely, but you can only help them to the extent that they let you. After that all you can do is pray. Here's hoping he is in a better place, and at peace.

And Lynn must be going crazy. I know she did such justice to his cottages. I know he liked how she worked with his stuff. Sigh...

Let me add my condolences - he will be sorely missed. I hope it's some small comfort that he and his work were known to, and appreciated by, so many people, a tribute to the person he was.

I knew of him and spoke chatted with him occasionaly. A kind and talented man. He will greatly be missed. My thoughts and heartfeltl prayers go to his loved ones.

I'm very sorry to hear it. I know he was a very talented fellow, and I admired his works. Don't kick yourself for anything, vggarcia. People can be pretty stubborn sometimes -- which isn't always a bad thing, but it certainly makes it difficult to help. It's awful what happened, but don't be taking on any of the fault for it. I watched someone very close to me deteriorate over several months before she passed away as well, and had to come to realize that it was still her decision -- any scenario I can dream up to prevent it would most likely have ended with her refusal anyway. Instead, remember him fondly for us, and I hope he's smiling back at you as you do so.

This is sad news. My prayers go out to him and his family. :(

Indeed a sad day! I did not know him personally, but I have purchased many of his fine products. He had a way of making his cottages like no one else could! They were magical to me. My condolences to his family, and friends. I will miss him very much. I will keep you in my heart and prayers. God Bless!

In my prayers as well. I can hardly believe this, he was my favorite merchant.

I emailed back and forth with Billy several times. I always enjoyed hearing from him and consider him to be a great guy. He and his family will be in my prayers. Jay

My thougts and prayers go out to his family.

May The White Shores Welcome him Home. Beth

Oh, my. I don't know what to say. You'll be missed, heart-of-iron.

Oh my.... What can you say? I did not know Billy personally. I saw his posts and admired his work. My condolences go to his family and friends. :( So So sad.

That OT thing is nonsense, if you have to say the topic is OT when someone dies...

I am so sorry to hear of Ironhart's passing. Please know he will be in my prayers. Hugs, Nancy

I didnt know him personally but always admired his work...my thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. HUGS Gina

What a terrible shame and a wasteful way to pass away. It seems to be the inconsequential things which can have the direst consequences. I too bought some of his work and enjoyed it's design. He'll be missed greatly. William

:( :( :(

My deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences go out to his loved ones. My prayers for peace and love join all those here to bid him a fond farewell. Goodbye Ironheart. :o( M

Oh no. I'm just stunned. Billy and I have IMd many times, as I use his beautiful cottages in my Vue renders, and he was always so friendly and kind, I always imagined he had a smile on his face. What a terrible loss of a good person.

This just absolutely floors me. :(( My condolences and prayers to his family, his friends and his girlfriend. You did what you could vggarcia, you did your best I'm sure. He will be missed, he was a nice person. Pendy

Although I only knew him via the internet, I can not express how sad this notice has made me feel. I truly loved his work, his generosity, and considered him to be freind. I regret that I will never have a chance to tell him that personally. My sincerest condolences to his loved ones and if there is anything I can do to help them get thru this terrible tragedy, I hope they will write and let me know. gennyb@pacbell.net