in 2012, seventy years of smoking began to take its toll on his health.  Bill was dutiful in following through on regular health exams and was very thankful for the quality medical care he received from the Mayo Clinic.  Over time, progressive heart disease and emphysema resulted in a need for more acute care.  In late November, Hospice of the Valley was enlsited to provide in-home care with regular support from Senior Helpers, Villa Home Care and family members.  Mark and Lina provided constant and loving family support throughout, with the support of other family members from across the country whenever possible.  Through regular visits, all immediate family members were able to spend quality time reminiscing with him and saying goodbye.  Early in the morning on January 24, Bill said his last goodbyes to Lynne and Terri before passing peacefully in his sleep.

Bill's career  at Pioneer Financial Services involved a lot of travel for business.  Later in his career, he started traveling west and fell in love with Arizona.  In 1990, he and Lynne bought a second home in Scottsdale, Arizona and were excited to call all of their children to share the news.  They would spend many winters there as "snowbirds".  Upon retiring from Pioneer after 49 years of service, they decided to sell the old homestead in Rockford and move permanently to Scottsdale in April 1996.  Bill loved the new place and was active in the local homeowner's association.  He was proud of the grapefruit and orange trees in their yard and was always overjoyed whenever people visited them.

Bill loved kids and especially enjoyed time with all of his grandchildren.  Always known as "Papa", he beamed with joy whenever he was around them.  He loved to play games like "upsy daisy" and had a secret identity as "the Silver Lake mosquito".  He would make children laugh whenever he put them in "jail" in the crook of his crossed legs and giggle as they'd proceed to escape right out from under him.  From the first grandchild, Sara, through the youngest, Sophia, he enjoyed every minute with each of his grandkids and great-grandchildren and showered them with love.

Bill felt it was important to spend time one-on-one, bonding with his sons.  When Billy was a young teenager, they would travel to Lake Geneva to sail with a friend, Gene Horvath.  He later bought a used sailboat that they refurbished and took to Silver Lake.  A 20-foot Melges D-scow, it was the largest sailboat on the small lake (see related memory under "Stories").  The two would travel up to Silver Lake every weekend in summer to feel the wind in their hair and enjoy time together until Billy went away to college.

As  a young boy, Mark was given golf lessons and became quite good.  When he was 12 Bill began taking him on week-long golf trips.  They also enjoyed playing together at Forest Hills Country Club in Rockford  during Mark's high school years.  

If you'd ask him what these early years of father-and-son outings meant to him, he would say "It made me appreciate Mom". 

Commitment to the quality of life in the local community was always a priority for Bill.  As a champion of Catholic education, he served on the Boylan High School Council of Administration and was President of the Rockford Diocesan Board of Education.  He also served on the National Association of Boards of Education.  Bill also served on the Board of Directors of Crimestoppers and Saint Anthony Hospital in Rockford.  He was the chairperson for the Cerebral Palsy Telethon and was well known for wearing wild golf clothers to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  He had a cousin that suffered from this disease and Bill always had vowed to do whatever he could to champion the cause to raise funds for a cure.

Bill took his first job with Pioneer Life Insurance Company in Rockford, IL.  He worked there for 49 years, becoming the chief legal counsel and corporate secretary, including tenure on its Board of Directors.  On his 40th anniversary he said, "I never worked a day in my life" because he defined "work" as "something I don't like to do for a dollar" and he loved his job.   He enjoyed working with state departments of insurance for licensing in states, challenges in buying or selling companies and the friends he made through the Company and the nation.  

Upon returning, Bill was able to enter Marquette University Law School directly in the fall of 1946.  He lived with his parents in Wauwatosa during this time, marrying Marilyn on December 26, 1946.  Bill completed his law degree as valedictorian in 1948, following the birth of their first daughter, Terese in March.  After graduation,  Rockford became their home for 49 years and the family grew.  Susan was born in 1951, William III in 1958, Monica in 1961 and Mark in 1965.

Bill's Naval orders sent him to Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin to receive officer training for the V12 program.  He was there for a year, completing another three semesters of college.  In June 1944 he received orders to attend pre-midshipman school in Asbury Park, NJ for three months, followed by three months of midshipman school at Northwestern University in Chicago.  He was commissioned as an Ensign at the Navy Pier in Chicago in January 1945.  He met the love of his life, Marilyn Nilles, at Lawrence College and gave her his fraternity pin.  She joined him at Northwestern University near her hometown of Evanston, IL.

When he was commissioned, he volunteered for duty in underwater demolition.  He attended training at Fort Pierce, FL.  He received orders to report to the LST607, an amphibious landing ship, in April 1945.  He traveled by train to San Francisco to catch a troop ship to Hawaii and then Guam.  It took a couple of months to catch up with his ship.  He served as the ship's navigator during his tour of duty.  The ship arrived in Okinawa just after the battle to secure it.

While in the Pacific Ocean, he and the crew were trainingfor the invasion of Japan.  Fortunately, the Japanese surrendered following the dropping of the atomic bombs and the frontal assault was called off, saving an estimated 1-2 million soldier's lives.  Following the surrender, General McArthur decided to tunr over a number of ships for the repatriation of Japanese citizens.  The crew of the LST607 destroyed all sensitive equipment and weapons and turned the ship over to the Japanese.  Bill then received orders on an LSM ship in support of the United Nations Relief Association up the Yangtze River and North China Sea for relief efforts in support of the Chinese famine following Japanese domination.  After a year of duty touring China and Manchuria, he returned to the United States in June 1946.  With his discharge papers, he received a thank you note from the President of the United States, Harry Truman.

During his junior year in high school, he joined the Naval Reserves following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  While he was in the Reserves, he trained in civilian pilot training at Timmerman Field in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.  He would get extra gasoline rations to provide fuel to get to the airfield for training.  During the winter, they would fly Piper Cubs with skis for landing.  Bill experienced some airsickness and realized his destiny was not in aviation.  He attended Marquette University for three semesters until receiving military orders in June of 1943.

William Benjamin Van Vleet Jr was the oldest of four children born to William Benjamin and Irene Peppey Van Vleet.  He was born in Milwaukee Hospital on December 4, 1924 and lived in West Allis (southwest Milwaukee) in a home next to his grandparents.   He had fond memories of life growing up despite being a child of the Great Depression.  He recalled that his father had lost his job and was unemployed for three years during the Depression and his mother took a job with the Democratic Party to make ends meet.  They lived there until he was 15 years old when the family moved to Wauwatosa.

William B. Van Vleet Jr., age 88, of Scottsdale, Arizona passed away Thursday, January 24, 2013 at his home in Arizona. He was born on December 4, 1924 to William and Irene Van Vleet and raised in Milwaukee, WI.  Bill served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in World War II and later earned his law degree as valedictorian at Marquette University.  He served as the chief legal counsel and company officer in an accomplished 40-year career with Pioneer Financial Services.  A long-time resident of Rockford, Illinois and champion of Catholic education, he served on the Board of Education for the Diocese of Rockford and also hosted multiple fund-raising campaigns for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. 

His legacy is family, and it lives on in the hearts and souls of his wife of 66 years, Marilyn Nilles Van Vleet, their children: Terri & Ed Svetich, Susan & Paul Waldo, William & Carolyn Van Vleet, Monica & Pat McCarthy and Mark & Lina Van Vleet; 15 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.  He was a passionate, hard-working man in everything he did. Generous and kind-hearted, his life was an example of pure love.  The family would like to thank Hospice of the Valley, Senior Helpers and Villa Home Care for providing tender nursing care in his final days.

A memorial service will be held at Messenger Mortuary, 7601 E Indian School Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 on Sunday, February 3 from 6-8 pm.  A Catholic Mass will be held at 10 am on Monday, February 4 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 3801 N Miller Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 with a reception to follow.  In lieu of sending flowers, donations may be sent to Hospice of the Valley in his memory.