William H. Wilms

Service Details

Funeral services for Mr. Wilms were held privately. Interment with full military honors followed in West Lawn Memorial Park, Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

William H. Wilms “Bill” was born to eternal life on April 16, 2022, in Somers, Wisconsin.
Bill was born October 18, 1927, in Neenah, WI, as the third of eight children to Forrest and Lavina (nee: Andersen) Wilms.
He was raised in Neenah and attended Lake View Elementary School—which was a one-room schoolhouse—and ultimately graduated from Neenah High School in 1945. He then attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, achieving his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. He moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a year while attending LSU on a National Science Foundation Scholarship, where he earned a master’s degree in Mathematics. He then moved and spent his adult life in Racine, Wisconsin.
Bill proudly served our nation as a member of the US Navy in 1946 at the end of WWII, and again in the Army from 1950 to 1952 during the Korean Conflict; he was also a member of the Army Reserves until 1957.
Bill worked as a grower at Kraemer Greenhouses in Neenah. After he moved to Racine, Bill taught mathematics at Mitchell Jr. High School, and later at Case High School from the time it was built in 1966 up until his retirement in 1998.
He enjoyed golfing and gardening and was happy to share the produce and flowers of his husbandry with his friends and neighbors; Bill was particularly proud of the variety of fruit trees in his garden. He was a longtime member of the Christ Church United Methodist Congregation in Racine and was an active participant in the Racine Dairy Statesmen & Church Singers group; he also sang in Racine’s Salvation Army Chorus, sharing the gift of music and God’s love with nursing home residents.
Bill is survived by his daughters, Karen (Larry) Lehner, Linda (Joe) Moffitt, and Barbara (Mike) Homolka; his seven grandchildren, Andrew Lehner, Jennifer (Lehner) Wengrzyn, Jesse Moffitt, Joshua Moffitt, William Moffitt, Robert Moffitt, and Timothy Moffitt; five great-grandchildren, Landon Moffitt, Ella Moffitt, Joe Moffit, Aubrey Wengrzyn, and Daniel Moffitt; two brothers, Phillip Wilms and Samuel Wilms; one sister, Kathleen (Wilms) Eger,  as well as many nieces, nephews, and longtime friends.
Along with his parents, Bill was preceded in death by two sisters, E. Joyce Reid, and P. Elaine Sorenson, and two brothers, Sheldon and Wallace Wilms.
Funeral services for Mr. Wilms were held privately. Interment with full military honors followed in West Lawn Memorial Park, Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

“Music is a passion of mine, but I feel I was put on earth to help people and I strive to do that every day in some small way.”

William H. Wilms