William Friend

William (Bill) Friend, 95, died Sunday, May 13, 2018 at The Addison in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.  He was born May 8, 1923 at home on West 26th Street in Zion. Bill graduated from Zion Benton High School in 1943.

Bill was inducted into the Army on June 12th, 1943, he transferred to the Army Air Force and trained in electronics and advanced radar mechanics in Madison, Wisconsin, Chanute Field, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.  He deployed to the Mediterranean theater in 1945 in the 15th Air Force, 464th heavy bombardment group.  He was discharged as a corporal on November 23, 1945 from Baer Field, Indiana.

He lived and worked most of his life in the Zion area and South Florida in his later years.  He was an owner of the family business, H.A. Friend & Company, Inc., a manufacturer of stationery products and paper supplier for the legal profession. He was the company president for 26 years from 1982 to 2008. He was a loving husband, a wonderful father and a proud grandfather. He loved his family most of all.  Bill also enjoyed his flower gardens, his annual fishing trips with his church buddies, travel, photography and golf. Work was his favorite hobby of all building wonderful relationships with vendors and employing hundreds of people over his 70 years of service to his company.

Survivors include his wife of 72 years, Betty Jane Marschner, married on August 4, 1945. Children: Kerry (Carol), Jill, Randy (Cindy). Grandchildren: Jonathan Friend, Danielle (Igor) Sadovyi and Eric Friend.

Bill was preceded in death by his father, Harley Alfred and mother Alva (Witter), three brothers Wilber (Web), Richard (Dick) and Howard and one sister Lillian Hansen.

Visitation services will be held at the Memorial United Methodist Church, Zion, Illinois on Monday, May 21st from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and funeral services at 10:00 a.m. also at the church on Tuesday, May 22nd.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Memorial United Methodist Church of Zion, Illinois.