William Charles Partsch

William “Bill” Charles Partsch, Sr., a loving, generous, and funny husband, Dad, PawPaw, Grandpa, brother, uncle, and friend, died on March 17, 2017 at the age of 78. Bill was born May 22, 1938, in St. Louis, MO, and the youngest of eight children born to Fridolin and Marie (Puetter) Partsch. He attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help grade school and graduated from De Andreis High School. After serving in the U.S. Air Force he was fortunate to be hired by McDonnell-Douglas as an electrical specialist. While there, he proudly worked on Project Gemini in partnership with NASA. After being laid-off due to budget cuts to the space program, Bill went to work for and manage Heathkit Electronics stores in St. Louis, MO and Toledo, OH. In 1980, he returned to St. Louis and McDonnell-Douglas/Boeing, retiring from there in 2000. Bill had many talents and interests; gardening, traveling, calligraphy, picture framing – to name a few. He shared and passed on his sense of humor, his passion for history, love of music, and good food with everyone – especially his children and grandchildren. His personal joy was cooking for family and friends whenever possible: his delicious beef rouladen, sweet/sour red cabbage, German potato salad, homemade sauerkraut, the Partsch family lebkuchen and anise cookies, his famous barbeque ribs, his signature Poor Boy sandwiches, his homemade wine, and his amazing cakes and pies baked completely from scratch – and so much more. He would say with a grin, “If you leave this house hungry, it’s your own fault.” You could always count on a good, long conversation and lots of laughter when you talked with him. Whatever he did, he did it with love. In 2004, Bill was blessed to reunite with and marry his first love, Carole O’Neill. They celebrated 12 wonderful years of traveling the world, spending time with their families and friends, singing and being active in their church, and fulfilling their pledge to see as much, laugh as much, and love as much as they could before they departed this world. Carole (O’Neill-Ziegler) survives Bill and dearly misses him along with his children, Karen (Jerry) Mayfield, Judy (Greg) Walker, William “Bill” (Jennifer) Partsch, Jr., James (Claire) Partsch, and step-daughter Julie (Bob) Robinson; his grandchildren, Meghan Antal, Meghan Johnson, Kathleen Mayfield, Laura Mayfield, Alexander Partsch, Hailey Partsch, Natalie Partsch, Oliver Partsch, Kristin Robinson, Kaitlyn Robinson, and Kyle Robinson; and his siblings, Dolores Peltz and Fred Partsch. Bill is preceded in death by his parents; his former wife, Kathleen O’Shea; and his siblings, Rita Vogler, Therese Weber, Vincent Partsch, Mary Kelly, and Joan Osmack. The family extends heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Marty Warrick, RN, Dr. Eugene Greenstein, and the nursing staff of Edward Hospital. They provided guidance, consolation, and compassion so that Bill’s last days were comfortable, with his family at his side. A celebration of Bill’s life will be held on Saturday, April 29, at 10:00 a.m. in St. Helena’s Episcopal Church, 7600 Wolf Road, Burr Ridge, IL 60527. Donations may be sent to St. Helena’s Episcopal Church or The Children's Center of Cicero-Berwyn, 1447 S. 50th Court, Cicero, IL 60804. If you really want to honor Bill, play some good music and share a good meal, a good story, and a good laugh with your loved ones.