William Baetsle Sr., 04 Jun 1945 – 19 Sept 2013

BAETSLE, KEEFE, ROCKAMANN, BAETHKE

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 11/19/2013 at 15:29:14

BORN: June 4, 1945
DIED: September 19, 2013
LOCATION: Victor, Iowa

William Baetsle Sr., 68, of Victor passed away on Thursday, September, 19, 2013, at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

A funeral service will be held 10:00 a.m., on Monday, September 23, 2013, at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Victor, with Rev. Brian Shepley officiating.

Visitation will be from 2:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m., on Sunday, September 22, 2013, at the Smith Funeral Home in Victor. Family will be present from 3:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m.

Interment will be at the Calvary Cemetery in Victor.

Memorials may be directed St. Luke's Hospital, Ed and Joan Hemphill Hospice Unit, and sent in care to the Smith Funeral Home, P.O. Box 485, Victor, Iowa 52347.

Bill was born on June 4, 1945, to Arnold and Arlene (Keefe) Baetsle in Belle Plaine. He attended school at St. John's in Victor.

During Bills career, he worked for Rhinehart's with the sod and seed crew, and then Wilson's in Cedar Rapids as a forklift driver where he inherited the name "Chilly Willy" due to his time spent in the freezer. After the closing of Wilson's in 1991, he returned to Victor and began farming on the family farm south of Victor till his retirement in 2008.

Bill was an old fashion traditional family man, who had a heart of gold and was always willing to help others. He enjoyed tinkering with things around home and creating what he called his master pieces, he also like to play cards, shoot pool and rolley bolley when he was younger. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Bill is survived by his wife, Wanda [Baethke] of 50 years; children, Bill Jr. (Keri) Baetsle of Woodward, Michael(Angie Brown)Baetsle of Hendricks, Diane Rockamann of Blairstown and Julie Baetsle of Cedar Rapids; brothers, Butch (Helen) Baetsle of Harper and Tom (Janie) Baetsle of Bruce, Wisconsin; grandchildren, Zachary, Janet, Traci, Joel, Korey Jo, and Daniel; five great-grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents.

[Baethke per submitter]

Smith Funeral Home
Published in The Gazette 22 Sept 2013 [abbreviated]