William (Bill) Springer
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William (Bill) Springer age 70 of Naples, FL, formerly of Peoria, IL passed away suddenly on February, 9, in Kissimmee, FL while on a family vacation at the Magic Kingdom. He was with his wife and daughter for the short period of time at Celebration Advent Health, where he died peacefully. While Bill had fought a long and courageous battle against Metastatic Prostate Cancer since March of 2016, he ultimately died of Covid 19. While he was vaccinated, boosted and received monoclonal therapy 2 weeks before, he was undergoing cancer treatments and his immune compromised body could not fight off this terrible virus that has claimed so many lives. Thankfully he had a few hours with his wife, beloved daughter, son-in-law and his two grandsons.
Bill leaves behind his wife, Margie, daughter Stacy Springer Lenzie (Joe), grandson's Drew (10) and Max (8) of Chicago, IL. His 98-year-old mother Lenetta Springer, sister Lee Ann Hohstadt (Jim) of Peoria, IL. His brother John (Shelly) of Salem, Arkansas and sister-in-law, Mary Kramer of Kansas City, MO. He leaves behind numerous beloved nieces/nephews and great nieces/nephews. He also leaves behind Gabi, his 4 year old rescue Havanese who was his faithful companion.
He was predeceased by his father, Glenn, and his brother-in-law Tom Kramer, his mother-in-law, Dorothy Anderman, and Edward Anderman, his father-in-law.
Bill was born on June 8th, 1951 to Glenn and Lenetta Springer in Pryor, Oklahoma. The family later moved to Peoria, IL in his early childhood, where Bill grew up enjoying many different sports including swimming, golf and tennis. He was an avid Boy Scout and proudly went on to become an Eagle Scout. He enjoyed working on the yearbook and was very proud to be the editor. After graduating from Richwoods High School in 1969, he then went on to graduate in 1972 from the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO with a BA in Math & Computer Science. He met the love of his life, Margie Anderman Springer, on homecoming weekend 1970 and they married on a cold snowy day on January 13, 1973, in Kansas City, MO. They celebrated their 49th anniversary this past January and looked so forward to hosting a big bash for their 50th in 2023. Their only child Stacy was born June 26th, 1974.
Bill's career with Caterpillar, Inc spanned exactly 40 years where he was fortunate enough to take his family to assignments in far locations all around the world. Most of his career was in the Parts and Marketing departments where he worked with Caterpillar dealers around the globe. Bill, Margie and Stacy were so lucky to have lived internationally in San Juan, Puerto Rico early in his career followed by Geneva, Switzerland and Tehran, Iran.
Bill had a long stretch in the 1980's and 1990's living back in Peoria and moving to various positions across the company and continued to travel globally. He became District Manager at Caterpillar's Brisbane, Queensland district office with responsibilities covering the islands in the South Pacific & Papua New Guinea.
Bill was promoted to President of Cat Logistics in Peoria in 1999. In May of 2002 he was named Vice President, Marketing & Product Support Division. He continued as a Vice President for the next 11 years, retiring in February 2013.
Bill was a fixture in the Peoria Community where he was actively involved in the Heart of Illinois United Way serving as Board chair and chairing the Annual Campaign. Bill and Margie were recognized as Philanthropists of the year by United Way. He was also Board Chair of the Peoria Red Cross chapter, and served on several other boards.
He enjoyed supporting Bradley University, Easter Seals, Riverfront Museum, and the Peoria Zoo. He was a member of Peoria Country Club where they enjoyed golfing and the numerous lifelong friends they made. He was a member of St. Thomas Parish.
In 2013 soon after retiring Bill and Margie moved to Naples, FL where they enjoyed golfing and Bill continued his involvement in local charitable organizations including Collier Country United Way.
He decided after his cancer diagnosis to write a memoir for his family and then 3- and 5-year-old grandsons, as he feared he would not live long enough for them to hear his stories. It took years but in 2020 he published "A Lucky Man, One Ordinary Guy One Extraordinary Journey.", available on Amazon. The book describes his amazing career with Caterpillar spending time in more than 80 countries and about how the world has changed, how he adapted, learned and ultimately thrived. He lived honorably, with integrity and always approached any situation with such compassion and grace.
In the last several years Bill and Margie served on the Johns Hopkins Brady Urological Board and decided their philanthropic giving would be exclusively directed to the efforts to find a cure for not only prostate cancer but all different types of cancers.
Bill will forever be in so many people's hearts and most importantly he will always be with his family as their guardian angel. He will be missed beyond words and was so loved.
Contributions in Bill's memory may be sent to support Dr. Ken Pienta's prostate cancer research at the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins. Private services were held in Naples, FL on February 12th. A celebration of life will be held at a later time in Naples, FL.
Mailing Address:
Johns Hopkins at Keswick
Attn: RevMgmt-The Brady Urological Institute
Office of Advancement Services
3910 Keswick Road, Suite N2100
Baltimore, MD 21211
Online: https://secure.jhu.edu/form/urology
Phone: 410-955-8434
To send on-line condolences please visit www.fullernaples.com