William "Bill" R. Siebert

William (Bill) Richard Siebert, 86, passed away surrounded by family on October 13, 2025 at Wausau Hospital. Bill was born in Berwyn, IL on August 30, 1939 to William H. and Ruth (Eck) Siebert. At the age of 3 his family moved to Butte des Mortes, WI and shortly thereafter to Oshkosh.

Visitation will be at Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Home, 3400 Stewart Ave. Wausau, WI 54401 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Tuesday October 28, 2025. A 1 hour visitation wil occur at 10:00 am followed by a funeral Mass at 11:00 am on Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at Saint Matthew Catholic Church (229 S. 28th Ave. Wausau, WI 54401.) Entombment at Restlawn Memorial Park, 235962 N Troy St. and a luncheon will follow.

On the shores of Lake Butte des Mortes and Lake Winnebago Bill developed a lifelong passion for the water. He spent summers making and testing waterskies, swimming, taking trips on his father’s boat, and crewing for several teams during the Winnebagoland Outboard Marathon, a 92-mile powerboat race. He and his friend Jerry Dempsey also both successfully waterskied the length of Lake Winnebago in the early 1950s. In his high school years Bill added sailing to his list of interests. He eventually began racing E scows, ice boats, and even crewed on two Chicago to Mackinac races.

For the past 15 years Bill enjoyed spending time at the family cottage on Shawano Lake. He was able to accomplish one of his childhood dreams of building and racing a D-Class racing runabout complete with engines he restored to running condition including vintage Mercury outboard engines from the 1940s and 50s. In addition to the high-speed thrills on the “D-Boat” he enjoyed pontoon boat trips, towing his grandkids tubing, spending time with the neighbors at annual cookouts, watching the lake change seasons from his favorite chair, and even the occasional Sea-Doo ride.

Not content to only do things on the water, Bill always wanted to see the world under water too! He learned to SCUBA dive in his late 50s with his son Derrick and close friend George. Bill didn’t just get a superficial experience diving; he earned his Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Deep, Night, NITROX, and Navigator certifications.

After graduating from Oshkosh High, William enlisted in the United States Army. After a year he was able to attend The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) where he earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. With a college degree to his name, he was able to advance to the officer ranks and became a Second Lieutenant. While in the Army his varied interests and talents served him well. He would often tell amazing stories of his experiences in Army Ranger School at Fort Lewis in the Olympic National Forest, his time in Jungle School in Panama, Fort Benning in Georgia, chasing tarantulas out of the barracks in Fort Bliss Texas, and the historically significant time of the 1960s from the perspective of a young Army Officer. Notable events include being loaded on a transport for the potential invasion of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, working at the NIKE missile sites around Milwaukee, and a tour in Vietnam and surrounding countries as part of the recently declassified Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MAC-V.)

After active Army service and his tour in Vietnam Bill joined the Army Reserve, William worked in Fond du Lac at Giddings and Lewis Machine Tool as a design engineer. It was at this time Bill earned two U.S. patents for the design of low-friction, ultra-high weight capacity, high accuracy guideways for machine tools. While working in Fond du Lac Bill met Marilyn. Bill and Marilyn were married on the first day of Winter, Dec 21, 1968, and spent their honeymoon skiing in Iron Mountain, Michigan. On the drive from the Oshkosh wedding in Bill’s 1967 Pontiac GTO the two stayed in Wausau due to the winter driving conditions.

In the early 1970s Bill interviewed and took a position working in Edmonton, Alberta Canada for Barber Industries as the plant manager. Barber manufactured and serviced equipment for the oil drilling industry including well heads, blowout preventers, mud pumps, and other equipment. Bill left the Army Reserve with the rank of Captain, in the early 1970s, due to relocating to Canada for work. Bill spent a significant amount of time travelling both domestic and international. Much of his time was spent in the high arctic onboard drill ships and throughout the oil patches of Canada and the United States. Barber did a lot of international work and as a Canadian company also serviced product in the Soviet Union. Because of his U.S. Army service the Soviet Union would not allow him to enter the country even though his boss insisted “Bill is the guy you need.”

Bill and Marilyn’s time in Canada was filled with great memories including many trips to the mountains for skiing, camping, long backpacking trips, hunting, and fishing. In Canada, Bill and Marilyn met four of their closest friends Leighton and Shirley Stewart and John and Madeleine Johnson. During one of the many skiing trips to the mountains Bill took a significant fall and bruised several ribs. That fall saved his life, a subsequent chest x-ray showed a shadow which turned out to be an early lung cancer that was later removed.

A decade after moving to Canada Bill and Marilyn decided it was time to be closer to home. Bill had been recruited as Vice President of Murray Machinery in Wausau. Shortly after returning to Wisconsin, they welcomed their son Derrick. Bill eventually left Murray and started his own business, Flint Creek Industries. He used his experience in engineering and metallurgy to represent Hellstrom Corp which was later purchased by Scot Forge. The years working at Scot were wonderful. Bill traveled the northern two-thirds of Wisconsin and western UP, made close friends with numerous customers, was pivotal in developing new programs such as using forged rings in place of steel plate for power poles and in selecting the proper alloys to be used for critical parts on large military ships and submarines. Bill retired after 33 years at Scot Forge at the age of 76 after immensely enjoying his career and the people he worked with.

Bill had no shortage of interests, hobbies, and traditions. Skiing wasn’t just a hobby, it was one of Bill’s first jobs. Bill skied on the Army ski team and eventually earned Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) certification. Bill spent most weekends in the winter teaching skiing at Pine Mountain Resort in Iron Mountain, MI.

Aviation interested Bill from a young age. He desired to learn to fly helicopters in the Army, but the opportunity was not available. After returning to Wausau, he decided to learn to fly hot air balloons. Bill became one of the first balloon pilots in the state in 1983 and his balloon “Aurora Borealis” was commonly seen in the skies over Wausau during the 1980s and early 1990s. Many of his volunteer crew flew airplanes and convinced Bill that he need not be entirely at the mercy of the wind. He earned his fixed wing pilots license in 1988. Bill always included his son in all his activities, especially aviation. He would set Derrick in the co-pilot seat on phonebooks so he could see out the window, they spent a summer overhauling an airplane engine, and he helped Derrick get his own pilot’s license when he was 17. Aviation was something Bill shared with many people, he was passionate and enjoyed sharing that passion. He was one of the first EAA Young Eagles pilots and gave airplane rides to nearly 80 children; he also taught the aviation merit badge for the Boy Scouts for many years and was one of the early lifetime members of the EAA. Many a weekend were spent with George, Theresa, Chuck, Judy, and Jeff flying to various points around Wisconsin for that hundred-dollar meal. Cherokee 5FL, Warrior 080, and Cherokee 6MT were often in the skies together.

Bill was also an extremely talented artist. He often told the story about how he got in big trouble when he decided to ride his bike down the highway from Butte des Mortes to Oshkosh (about 10 miles) to go to a hobby store and buy a model of a plane being used in the ongoing war (World War II.) His parents did not let him build the model when he returned home. Bill’s talent spanned many mediums. People are amazed by paintings he did in his 20s and 30s; many of the plastic models he built won local and regional competitions in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2000s he decided to return to building wooden ships, something he briefly tried in the 1970s and early 1980s. In his work room in the basement of their home Bill has many “Best of Show,” “People’s Choice,” and “Judge’s Choice” awards. His ships also won top awards including several “Best of Show” at national venues. His masterpiece is a scratch-built shipwrights’ model of the HMS Warrior, a 74 gun third rate man o’ war from the era of the American Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. He invested over 10 years and 3000 hours into its construction.

Working on intricate ships wasn’t the only way Bill worked with his hands. He did a lot of the construction work on the homes he and his family lived in, including doing the majority of the design work on a professional drafting table he acquired from his boss in Canada, laying all the wood floors and tile himself, and doing a significant amount of the landscaping with the assistance of his old Bolens tractor. When his son Derrick learned that his Ford Escort didn’t do well in the winters at Michigan Tech in Houghton, MI Bill assisted him in completely rebuilding a 1984 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. They replaced the entire floor from firewall to tailgate in addition to strengthening the body and fixing many other rusted or broken parts. Bill was the engineer who saw what needed to be done and Derrick was the welder who got everything secured.

The list of hobbies and interests goes on with many other activities Bill performed with his wife, son, and close friends including: snowmobiling, archery, target shooting, trap shooting, skeet shooting, sporting clays, duck and goose hunting, upland bird hunting, retriever training and competitions, canoeing, woodcarving, marine fish aquarium keeping, Green Bay Packers Football, watching old war movies and westerns, listening to music, collecting tap handles and other beer memorabilia, and catching up with friends with frequent phone calls. Bill also loved his pets, in particular black labradors Lucky, Scottie, Denali, and Kenai. He also enjoyed their Persian cats Top Cat, Hollie, and Jasper. The list could go on if it is not already clear why Derrick’s friends often called Bill “The most interesting man in the world.”

One would not be faulted for thinking that with all his activities and hobbies that Bill didn’t have time for relationships, yet nothing is farther from the truth. The friendships he had often spanned decades and Bill would frequently call out of the blue just to see how someone was doing. Bill was also extremely proud of his son, Derrick. The two shared many of the same interests and it was difficult to find them doing separate things when Derrick was home visiting from college or medical school. It was one of the happiest days for Bill when Derrick announced in 2013 that he would be returning home with his fiancé (now wife of 10 years), Sonya, to work in Wausau after finishing his residency and fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

Bill immensely loved his four grandchildren. When Derrick was going to go over to grandpas and grandma’s house the children would scramble into the car so they could go too and explore the house, get treats from grandma, listen to grandpa’s stories, and get many, many hugs and “I love you.” Bill was very proud of Abby, Sophia, Colin, and Story; he was excited to see that the older children were becoming talented artists themselves. He also was amazed at some of the questions they’d ask him about his experiences in the Army or as an engineer. The week spent camping at the EAA Airventure Airshow in Oshkosh is a family tradition that always included grandpa and grandma in their camper. That week has become everyone’s favorite week of the year, a tradition that will be continued!

William deeply loved his wife of 57 years, Marilyn. He would often say to his son “I am so lucky to have someone like her as my wife, and you’re lucky she’s your mom.” Bill and Marilyn both are extremely intelligent and understanding, but also could be persistent and steadfast in their opinions. There was never any doubt of the love and devotion they both have to each other.

Bill’s favorite place was probably the mountains. When living in Alberta he and Marilyn fell in love with the Canadian Rockies. Many summer vacations were spent towing their camper from Wausau to western Alberta and British Columbia to camp, hike, and backpack. He also fell in love with Alaska after travelling there for the first time in 1996. In the years following the family would travel back there another 9 times, driving the entire Alaska Highway twice. As was common, Bill made many friends wherever he went.

William is survived by: his loving wife Marilyn (nee Staats); his son Derrick (Sonya), grandchildren Sophia (9), Colin (8), Story (10 months), and step-granddaughter Abriella (20); brother-in-law Tim (Carol) Staats; sister-in-law Marge Petts; nephews Mark (Molly) Petts and Aaron (Laura) Staats; nieces Melissa Lodes, Monica Petts, Sally Staats, and Amy (Nick) Miles; and numerous second and third cousins. He is preceded in death by his parents William H. and Ruth; father and mother in-law Reuben (Helen) Staats; Uncle Herman (Anna) Siebert; brother-in-law Stan Petts; and best friends Leighton Stewart, Charles Ahner, and George Glasscock.

The family would like to thank Bill’s physician of many years, Dr. Tom Stoffel, whose care always addressed and helped the whole patient, not just their illness; in the end Tom’s care and compassion immensely helped the rest of the family as well. We would also like to thank Dr. Bret Stysly, Dr. Fawzi Hindi, Dr. Gary Sweet, Dr. Eric Johnson, Dr. Johanna Asquith, Dr. Chris Peterson, and Dr. Chris Platta for their care of Bill as he became more ill in recent years, you all always gave realistic expectations but acknowledged that hope, prayer, and willpower can overcome a lot. In addition, nurses Shelly, Jan, Laura, Alyssa, Marjorie, Chris, and Julie it is evident you went into the right career, the care and comfort you provide comes from the heart. Brad Lewitzke, thank you for spending so much time with Dad, it meant so much to him and us!

The world lost a honorable, talented, hardworking, loving, intelligent, and interesting man. Nearly everyone who met him would likely agree they are better for it. Bill would often joke that he wouldn’t buy a lottery ticket because he wasn’t very lucky; I believe all of us around him were the lucky ones for having him in our lives! We miss you a lot Dad. Love, Marilyn and Derrick

Online condolences may be expressed at www.petersonkraemer.com