William "Bill" Schroeder

William “Bill” Schroeder, 88, of Kanawha, passed away Tuesday, October 14, 2014, at his home in Kanawha.

Funeral services for Bill Schroeder will be held on Monday, October 20, 2014 at 10:30 AM at Kanawha Lutheran Church, 124 West 4th Street, with Pastors Char and Geoffrey White officiating.  Burial will be at the Amsterdam Township Cemetery in Kanawha.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, October 19, 2014 from 5-7 PM at Ewing Funeral Home, 118 East 2nd Street, in Kanawha and will continue one hour prior to services at the church.

William “Bill” David Schroeder was born July 6, 1926 in Kanawha, Iowa to Otto and Edith (Eliason) Schroeder.

Bill graduated from Kanawha High School with the class of 1943, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in February of 1944.  He was put in the V-12 program and attended schools in Minot, North Dakota, Seattle, Washington, and Chicago, Illinois before being stationed in Gulfport, Mississippi, Shoemaker, California, Bremerton, Washington and on Attu in the Aleutians where he served as a radio operator and electrician.  He was discharged in May of 1946.

On September 15, 1946, Bill married former classmate Twila Eckstrom.  They had been co-salutatorians of their graduating class.  Bill and Twila made their home on the Schroeder farm north of Kanawha until moving into town in July of 1979.  Two children were born to them: Steve Alan and Karen Sue.

Bill made farming his lifelong profession.  He enjoyed woodworking, carpentry and reading history books and biographies.

Bill is survived by his son Steve (Pat) Schroeder; daughter Karen (Larry) Lang; three grandchildren: Sam Schroeder, Kathy (Americo) Maldonado and Jim (Suzi) Lang; six great-grandchildren: Yuvia, Andres, Miguel, Aaron, Isaiah and Elsa; along with other family members and friends.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, wife Twila in 2012, and brother Clarence “Buck” Schroeder.