Bill Seaman

Bill Seaman lived a long and full life. From his humble beginnings growing up on a farm in Charleston, Illinois, he worked hard to earn his education, serve his country as a sailor, raise his family and enjoy the fruits of a good life. With education a top priority in life, Bill went on to become a dedicated teacher who impacted thousands of lives during his many years of teaching.

The early 1920s were a collage of interesting events. There were power struggles in Russia, Babe Ruth was setting baseball records, and the first Miss America was crowned. But for most of the people living in the farming community of Charleston, Illinois, such happenings were nothing more than headlines in a newspaper. Their lives were centered around raising their families and earning a living. This was the life of Charles Ross Seaman and his wife, Opal Leota (Spies). They lived a modest life on their farm in Charleston. After the birth of two children, Dorothy and Henry, Billy was born on October 30, 1921. Later, the family was completed with the birth of his sister, Alice.

It was obvious from a young age that Bill was very good with his hands, and mechanically inclined. As a teenager, he loved to be under the hood of a car tinkering with whatever needed to be fixed. He was especially proud of the Model A and Model T that he helped restore. After graduating from Charleston High School, Bill enrolled in classes at Eastern Illinois University for a year. He then followed the same patriotic calling as other young men of the time, and enlisted in the U.S. Marines. Impatient to begin serving his country, he switched to the U.S. Navy. He bravely served during World War II aboard a Landing Ship Transport (LST) in the Pacific Rim. But Bill’s service to his country did not end after the war; he went on to serve in the Naval Reserves for a total of 28 years. As a Lt. Commander, he spent many summers teaching reservists at the Joliet Naval School in Gary, Indiana, as well as Reserve Officer Candidates and ROTC at Northwestern University in Illinois. In addition, he spent several summers teaching classes to Reserve Officers at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Bill also served as an advisor to the Secretary of the Navy for three summers after retiring from the Navy.

After Bill returned home from the war, he went back to college at Eastern Illinois University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree, and later completed his Master’s degree in Industrial Arts at the University of Missouri and Wayne State University. Bill then began his 30-year teaching career at various high schools in the Chicago area, including Peotone High School, Bloom High in Chicago Heights and Tinley Park High, where he retired in 1978. In the summer when school was out, Bill was still teaching only it wasn’t in the classroom, but rather in a car. He taught driver’s education for 23 summers in six different school systems in Illinois and Michigan. And it’s a good thing Bill liked to drive, because he logged over a million miles teaching Driver’s Education. Even after retiring, he substitute taught for a time at Careerline Tech.

Although Bill loved his teaching career, it was apparent that his most important job in life was taking care of his wife and daughters. Bill met his beautiful wife, Joyce, at a dance class while at WMU in Kalamazoo, and they were later married in 1946. The couple spent the next 54 years together, raising their two daughters, Julia and Janet, and sharing many wonderful memories as a family. Bill and Joyce were quite the world travelers and had been to over 99 different countries and every continent, except the North and South Poles. Some of Bill’s favorite trips were to famous battlefields from history, and visiting places Joyce found from researching their family genealogy. Bill also loved to go sailing. In his quieter moments, Bill liked to read military magazines, and was quite proud of his 1952 Ford truck he restored. But then, Bill was always fixing something for someone.

Sadly, Bill lost his beloved wife, Joyce, in 2000. A few years later, while Bill was visiting his sister, Alice, in Florida in 2002, she introduced him to a wonderful lady named Norma Allison Kohlmann. From the start, he and Norma had much in common and they were both widowed, but moreover, they grew up in the same hometown. It wasn’t long before their friendship blossomed into romance and they were married. Over the next five years, Bill and Norma lived in both Florida and Holland, and enjoyed socializing with their many friends. Norma brought more than just her love into Bill’s life, as she had two sons, Victor and Tom, from a previous marriage. Bill enjoyed having some boys around since he only had daughters, and they became close pretty quickly. But family was always very important to Bill. He loved his daughters very much, and he couldn’t have been prouder of his two sons-in-law, Daniel and Phil. They both lost their fathers at a young age, so Bill was very much a father figure to them and in turn, he loved them as his own. His grandchildren also meant the world to him and Bill always had a proud smile on his face in their company. He especially enjoyed watching his grandchildren participate in sports and music activities.

Bill lived a life saturated with honesty, integrity and respect. He was many things in his life and a hard worker, dedicated educator, loving husband, wonderful father and grandfather. Bill touched many lives in his lifetime and he will be greatly missed.

Bill Seaman, age 86, of Holland, MI and Ft. Myers, FL, died on Monday, December 10, 2007, in Hospice House of Holland.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Joyce Timmer Seaman on March 5, 2000.

Bill is survived by his wife, Norma Allison Kohlmann Seaman; his daughters: Julia (Daniel) Drier of Frankfort, IL, and Janet (Phillip) McDonald of Holland; his stepsons: Victor Kohlmann of Cape Coral, FL, and Thomas Kohlmann (Nancy Hall) of Longmont, CO; his grandchildren: Jennifer (Leo) Matoush of Rochester, MN, Brian Drier of Indianapolis, IN, Ryan McDonald and David McDonald, both of Holland; his step grandson, Jason Kohlmann of Charleston, IL; his sister, C. Alice Shawver of Charleston, IL; his sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Lois Appledorn of Beverly Hills, MI, Chet and Elaine Timmer of Portland, OR, Al Timmer of Ontario, Canada, and Max Allison of Charleston, IL; and his nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 14, at Hope Church, 77 West 11th Street, Holland, with Rev. David Blauw and Rev. Gordon Wiersma officiating. Visitation will be held on Thursday, December 13, from 6-9 p.m. at the Dykstra Life Story Funeral Homes, Northwood Chapel, 295 Douglas Avenue, Holland. Burial will take place at Pilgrim Home Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Holland, Memorial LST 325 of Evansville, IN, or Hope Church of Holland. Please visit Bill’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you may share a memory with his family or sign his online guest book.

Bill’s family would like to thank Hospice House of Holland for the wonderful care given to Bill.