Bill Herr
WILLIAM “BILL” J. HERR, age 81, of Greenwood, WI, passed away on Saturday, April 1, 2023 at his home. Funeral services will be held at 11am on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwood, with Rev. Emmanuel Famiyeh officiating. A private family burial will take place prior to the Mass. Visitation will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Monday, April 10th from 4pm to 7pm, and on Tuesday, at the church, from 9am until time of service.
William Joseph Herr was born on May 20, 1941, in Marshfield, WI, the first of two children born to Joseph A. and Josephine B. (Schmitz) Herr. Bill attended St. Mary's Catholic School in Greenwood and graduated from Greenwood High School in 1959. Following high school, Bill worked on his family farm with his parents and hauled milk. He was united in marriage to Jane M. Weyer on October 4, 1969 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Loyal. Bill and Jane purchased the family farm north of Greenwood from Bill’s parents where they raised their family of five children. Bill was proud of their farm, family and community, which was evident by the support they provided to the 4-H club, St. Mary’s Church & School, and Marshfield Clinic. He enjoyed serving on the Board of Dairy Farmers of America, becoming friends with many other fellow farmers across the country and collaborating on issues impacting the farming industry. Bill and Jane hosted several dairy breakfasts at their Hyland Dairy Farm. He enjoyed learning and valued education, completing college classes in adulthood and serving on the Greenwood School Board for many years.
Bill was passionate about his family, supporting his children and grandchildren’s academics and sports teams. He loved watching any sporting event for his children and grandchildren, and was such a proud father and grandfather. He served in the Army National Guard for over 25 years before retiring from the military. Faith was important to Bill; he devoted time to teaching CCD and was a minister of communion at St. Mary’s in Greenwood.
He had a passion for racing Ford vehicles from a very early age. He raced motorcycles in his twenties until gravitating to racing cars. Throughout the course of his life, he raced stock cars on many different dirt tracks with his crew and fans in attendance, and enjoyed attending or watching any type of race. Bill was known as the “Flying Farmer” on the racetrack, a designation he proudly displayed on his #21 dirt race car. He was extremely talented at building race car engines and enjoyed seeing his car raced at Marshfield Speedway. Many family vacations centered around a Nascar or dirt track race.
Bill is survived by his children: Karrie (Guy) Willis of West Palm Beach, FL, Teri (Ron) Wilczek of Marshfield, Kristy (Adam) Yaeger of Hudson, Tom (Michelle) Herr of Mound, MN, Brandon (Miranda) Herr of Marshfield; eight grandchildren: Sam, Gracie and Sophia Wilczek, Ross and Ally Yaeger, Grayson and Thompson Herr, and Sophia (Willis) Reynolds; one sister: Kathleen (James) Martin of Green Bay; his nephew: William (Diane) Martin of Franklin, WI; his niece: Sara (Drew) Schiller of New Franken, WI; brothers and sisters-in-law; other relatives and many friends.
He was preceded in death by wife Jane; his parents; and his father and mother-in-law: Robert and Dorothy Weyer.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be given in Bill’s name to St. Mary's Memorial Fund, 123 N. Main St, Greenwood, WI 54437.
Online condolences may be expressed at www.cuddiefh.com.
Cuddie Funeral Home of Greenwood, WI is assisting the family with arrangements.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.