Obituaries

William John Fredricksen III was born on November 23, 1945 in Blue Island, Illinois, and he died at home on February 22, 2024 in Sugar Grove, Illinois. He was 78 years old.

Bill was the second of three children. His parents, Bill and Mildred, raised him in Markham, Illinois. While a senior at Bremen High School, Bill met Cheryl (nee Czekalski), who was three years his junior. When he graduated high school, Bill entered the Navy. After Bill returned from his service, Bill and Cheryl continued to date, and they married on April 19, 1969. Bill and Cheryl began their 54-year marriage first in Blue Island, and then they lived in Wheaton, in St. Charles where they raised their three children, and finally in Sugar Grove during their shared retirement years. Bill followed his father’s footsteps by working for Commonwealth Edison, where he was employed for 38 years from 1965-2003.

Bill loved to learn. He took up a wide-range of hobbies over the years, including photography, cooking, traveling, birding, gardening, reading, walking, looking for wildlife during drives, finishing daily crossword and sudoku puzzles, and cheering on his children and grandchildren as they performed  music, dance, theater, and sports over the last 50 years. He was committed to serving others, and he volunteered in a whole host of ways over the years — working at shelters for people without housing, driving cancer patients to their homes after treatments, and driving new refugees home after their late night work shifts ended. Bill said that one of his greatest accomplishments was supporting his three children as they each earned degrees in higher education and then became professionals who served people as educators or as nurses. He took joy in hearing how his children led others, particularly when others were marginalized, vulnerable, or needed extra support.

He believed family, love, laughter, and meaningful work were the ingredients to a good life, and he lived those virtues each day. During his last 18 months, Bill battled bladder cancer and a variety of associated complications. Bill and Cheryl built a family who knows that life has both its times of challenges and celebrations, and he was proud to see his family rally together, support him and each other, and continue to love, laugh, and be generous and hopeful — especially when things proved difficult.

His parents, in-laws, and his sister Judy passed before him, but Bill’s legacy lives on through his wife, Cheryl; his son Jim, daughter-in-law Kelly Myers, and their daughter Mavis; his son Bill and his daughters Marley and Makenzie; and his daughter Nicole Snopko, his son-in-law Jake, and their two boys Wyatt and Porter; his brother Dave, his sister-in-law Pat; and his many other family members and friends.

A visitation for Bill will be held on Saturday April 13, 2024 from 9-10 a.m. at Yurs Funeral Home of St. Charles, 405 East Main Street at the corner of Route 64 and Route 25. A service led by Father Robert Jones will follow at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital online at stjude.org.

• Send Flowers
• Guest Book
• Share
• Email
• Print