Guilfoile, William J.

William J. Guilfoile, 84, died at Holy Cross Village, Notre Dame, Indiana, on July 9, 2016.

Bill was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on November 5, 1931, to Walter and Leota Guilfoile. After graduating from Fond du Lac High School, he attended the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Bill was president of his senior class, was elected to "Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities," and was named to receive Notre Dame's "Dome Award," presented annually to four seniors selected as the outstanding members of their class.

Upon graduating from Notre Dame, Bill served as a naval officer for over three years.

In 1957, he married Loretta White in Brooklyn, New York, and their marriage was blessed with a daughter and three sons.

After his honorable discharge from the Navy in 1958, Bill and Loretta returned to Fond du Lac, where Bill began working for the A.C. Nielsen Company.

In 1960, he took a position as Assistant Public Relations Director with the New York Yankees, and spent the rest of his working career in the sport he loved, baseball.

After 10 years with the New York Yankees, he became Director of Public Relations for the Pittsburgh Pirates, being fortunate to serve on World Series Championship teams with both the Yankees and the Pirates.

In 1978, Bill left the Pirates to become Vice- President of Public Relations and Assistant to the President for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., where he served the last 18 years of his baseball career. Among the honors he received there was the Robert O. Fishel Award in 1996, baseball's highest award for public relations excellence.

Bill and Loretta returned to Fond du Lac for a number of years after his retirement, and he served on the Marian College faculty, teaching a course in Public Relations. In 2008, they moved to a condominium at Holy Cross Retirement Village in Notre Dame. In later years, due to health issues, Bill moved to a nursing facility on the same grounds, where he lived until his death.

Survivors include his wife, Loretta of Notre Dame; daughter, Ann (Mike Brown) of Atlanta, Georgia; son, Pete (Shari) of Dallas, Texas; Tom (Patty) of Duxbury, Massachusetts; and Kevin (Maureen) of LaGrange, Illinois. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren, a brother, Tom (Jeanne) of Fond du Lac, and nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. on July 30, 2016, at St. Joseph's Chapel, Notre Dame, on the campus of Holy Cross College. The street address is 54515 State Road 933 North, Notre Dame, IN.

Visitation will be at 9 a.m. at Andre Place, next door to St. Joseph's Chapel.

Memorial donations may be made to Alzheimer's and Dementia Services of Northern Indiana, 922 E. Colfax, South Bend, IN, 46617.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Fond du Lac Reporter on Jul. 17, 2016.

Memories and Condolences
for William Guilfoile

Sponsored by Kurki Funeral Chapel & Crematory - Fond du Lac.

9 Entries

CLAY MARSTON

August 13, 2016

HAVING ONLY NOW FOUND THIS SAD NEWS WE WISH TO OFFER OUR MOST SINCERE AND HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES TO ALL IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS, ALL OTHER RELATIVES, HIS MANY COMRADES THROUGH LIFE AND HIS MANY FRIENDS IN BASEBALL UPON THE DEPARTURE FROM THE SCENE OF BILL GUILFOILE ...

AS BASEBALL HISTORIANS / RESEARCHERS / BIOGRAPHERS WE HAD OCCASION TO MEET AND SPEAK WITH BILL MANY TIMES OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS OF HIS BASEBALL TIME BOTH WHILE WITH THE PIRATES AND IN COOPERSTOWN AT WHICH HE WAS ALWAYS MOST HELPFUL AND CONSIDERATE IN EVERY RESPECT ...

LIFE HAS CHANGED TOO MUCH OVER TIME WHERE QUITE OFTEN VERY GOOD PEOPLE LIKE BILL ARE VIRTUALLY FORGOTTEN IN RETIREMENT THEN DEATH OR NOT HAVE THEIR NAME MENTIONED ALOUD TOO OFTEN ALTHOUGH HIS NAME AND DEEDS SHOULD BE SPOKEN OF AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY ..

THANKS AGAIN VERY MUCH FOR EVERYTHING, BILL ...

WE SHALL REMEMBER ...

CLAY MARSTON
DIRECTOR

- WWW.CANADIANBASEBALLNEWS.COM -

==

July 28, 2016

To Tom Guilfoile,
Condolences on the passing of your brother.
From Your '57 classmate.
Harry Smith,
Kapalua, Hawaii

Bev Searl

July 28, 2016

Tom, I was sorry to hear about the loss of your father. I didn't know him personally but heard so much about him and what a wonderful Christian man he was from friends at FDL Right to Life. I know you must feel the joy and peace of knowing he is now in the presence of our Lord. You and your family are in my prayers.

Don Cayen

July 27, 2016

Sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Bill Guilfoile. Bill was the model Christian gentleman. I got to know him during his later years in Fond du Lac before he moved to Notre Dame, especially through his role as the editor of the quarterly newsletter of Fond du Lac Right To Life. His quiet competence was missed when he moved away. May Bill's family be comforted by the knowledge that they were blessed to have such a good man for a father, brother, husband, and grandfather.

Dorothy (Schultz) Taishoff

July 26, 2016

Dear Loretta and family,
Please accept my condolences on the death of your beloved husband and father. I remember Bill as a young Naval officer and certainly from his wedding and early days with the Yankees, and his love for Notre Dame and for his home town. He shone in everything he did.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Your cousin, Dorothy

John Kraus

July 25, 2016

Tom:

Please accept my condolences upon the death of your dad. you and your family are in my prayers! I remember from when we were together with ND baseball that he was with the HoF. He and my dad were fellow '54s; Dad spoke of him fondly.

Go Irish!

John ("Moose") Kraus '83

Mary Ahern

July 22, 2016

Love thee, Notre Dame. RIP Bill. Rest well in Our Lady's arms.

Mary Ahern, Class of '81
Daughter of Michael D. , Class of '57
and sister of Michael T., Class of '83'

Dick and Delores

Richard Grunwald

July 18, 2016

I went to high school with Bill. He was a super classmate. Always friendly and kind to everyone. One of my memories of him was in gym. We were doing tumbling on mats. Bill did a series of flips and landed with his back against the brick wall and dislocated his shoulder. I followed his career over the years and always wanted to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame to see him, but life was too busy. He will be greatly missed.

Carol Donnermeyer

July 17, 2016

My mother was Walter's secretary at one time and Walt would come to visit her and her children several times a year. I remember that he loved to talk about Bill and his baseball career. He was very proud of Bill and very happy that he had been blessed with a son like Bill. Walt seemed to really enjoy talking about the teams Bill was working with. I always called him Mr. Guilfoile because that is how Geraldine Burns Muckerheide expected her children to behave. Sympathies on this loss to your family.

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