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Tryon Coffeehouse holds memorial to honor Bill Ingham 

 

TRYON—On the afternoon of Saturday, January 13, hundreds gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Tryon Council Member Bill Ingham at the Tryon Coffeehouse Co-Op on N. Trade St. Ingham passed away on January 5, at the age of 72.

Born in Greenville, S.C., in 1951, Ingham founded the Trade Street Gallery Coffeehouse, what is now the Tryon Coffeehouse Co-Op, in 1998. He served as a Tryon council member since 2013 and was also mayor pro tempore from 2015 to 2019. 

Ingham was a cherished member of the community who tirelessly worked for and contributed to its betterment, and the Tryon community came together to remember him at the event. In addition to sandwiches and baked goods, there was also beer, bourbon and cigars; some of Ingham’s favorites. 

“That’s why we’re here today. This is a celebration of life, and I think Bill would have liked this format,” said Tryon Town Manager Jim Fatland. 

The Tryon Town Council will decide on an interim replacement for Ingham, and there will be an election to select who will finish the remainder of his term. 

“I just don’t think he had a single enemy. He was an icon,” said Tryon Mayor Alan Peoples.  “It’s a good person like that that you want in your town, and he was like a lot of people here; good people that want to contribute and give rather than take.”

The town has placed a memorial banner in Ingham’s honor on the clock tower on Trade St.