William "Bill" J. Simpson

William (Bill) John Simpson, age 87, died Sunday, August 7th, 2022, in his home of natural causes. He was the son of William John Simpson & Julia Veronica Hudak, and was born on May 15, 1935, in South Chicago.

Bill was educated at St. Thomas in Rockford and finished his last two years of high school at East High, graduating in 1952. He attended Northwestern University from 1952-1956, and he was a proud member of Theta Chi Fraternity. He was awarded Honorary Chapter Member by several universities, and in 1999 received The Earl D. Rhodes Theta Chi for Life Award. Until his death he was the longest serving member of the fraternity’s Board.

Bill continued on to Yale Law School in the fall of 1956 and graduated in 1959 with a specialization in Constitutional Law. He worked as a constitutional lawyer, and in the later part of his career he enjoyed appellate research.

He was introduced to Mary Louise Weber by a mutual friend in the 1960’s, and they were married on January 3, 1976. He and Mary enjoyed traveling to Europe, especially England, where Liverpool was their haunt and favorite location to visit.

They loved their dachshunds - She-She, Sophie & Franz, and Coco. They made many friends in England via a dachshund club established there. They also loved Bruno, the stray kitty who walked into their lives and adopted them.

Bill was a statistician for Harlem girls’ basketball for many years, and also many more for Boylan girls’ basketball. He enjoyed attending basketball and baseball games as an honorary guest at both schools for many years.

William is survived by his nieces, Mary Lynn Conway, Claire Louise Conway, and Stacy Elizabeth Conway.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 12, 2022, at St. Bernadette Church, 2400 Bell Avenue, Rockford. There will be no visitation, and it will be a private burial at St. Mary/St. James Cemetery.

The family is requesting no flowers; instead, memorial donations may be made to the following organizations: St. Bernadette Church; Rockford Rescue Mission; All Saints Catholic Academy, Rockford, Illinois; Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy, Rockford, Illinois, and/or Midwest Dachshund Rescue, Inc., 2023 Ridgewood Street, Highland, Indiana 46322 (www.mwdr.org).