New York City-born Estonian Bill Karjane, Jr. won two gold medals at the recently concluded National Senior Games [aka: “Senior Olympics”] in Minneapolis, MN. The biennial event drew approximately 10,000 women and men over age 50 to compete in 21 sports. Bill’s 3.67 meters [12′ 0.5″] defeated 20 opponents to win the Men’s 75-79 Long Jump and his 6.44 m [24′ 05″] surpassed 16 others to win the M75 Triple Jump.
He had qualified for the national games by winning those events at the Florida Senior Games in December 2014, and had qualified for the Florida games by winning both events at the Polk [County] Senior Games that March. These were his first attempts competing at state and national levels. Normally he plays over-65 baseball as a catcher and pitcher in leagues near Philadelphia and in national tournaments in Ft. Myers, FL.
Bill grew up near Lakewood, NJ, where his parents and uncle, Captain Arthur Waher, were founding members of the Lakewood Estonian Association in 1946. After WWII they also sponsored half a dozen families from Saaremaa and Muhu. With displaced Estonians Jaak Ardon, Tonu Sepp, Arvo Steinpick, Peter Winkel, and Paavo Prima, Bill Jr. won many team and individual championships at Lakewood High School in the late 1950s. He then played baseball and basketball at Princeton University, before graduating in 1961. He also played for the Eagles [Kotkad], which won summer basketball tournaments at the LEA and in Highland Falls, NY.
Bill and his wife Pat are residents of West Palm Beach, FL, but summer in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Four children and seven grandchildren keep them active.
Bill divided his working career between college publishing and high school librarianship.
His uncle, four children, and he made multiple trips to Estonia during the 1990s and were greatly encouraged by the changes between 1993 and 1998 as Tallinn transformed from Soviet soot to Scandinavian color.
Bill Karjane, Jr.
