William N. Gierke

May you Rest in Peace in your eternal life.

Bill was like a brother to me. It started with our time together at Beaubien and continued after we both retired from the CPS. He was the best person that I ever taught with. Please notify me when you have his Memorial.

I'd like to first express my condolences to the family.
My name is Jackie. I was a student of Mr. Gierke back at Chopin. I can recall Mr. Gierke' s words " Jackie can do it." Regardless of whether I could or not...climbing up the poles, performing a cartwheel; it didn't matter because Mr. Gierke believed I could do it.
That belief led me...many moons later despite my U turns in life to pursue a career...you guessed it as a P.E Teacher. It gets better.
So, I graduate and then receive a call stating there's an opening for a P. E. Teacher at ....Beaubien. Yep, for 13 years I had the opportunity to now work as his equal he would say whenever I called him Mr. Gierke rather than Bill. Think it doesn't get better???
Somewhere within those 13 years I was asked "what's next kiddo?" I was the first in my family to graduate with my masters.
You talk about leaving a positive impression on people's lives, there ya have it! Rest in peace Bill.
The photo is me pointing to my name on the gym. The trophy was given to me by Mr. Gierke in eighth grade. It sits on my desk now for the 24th year here at Beaubien.

So sorry to hear of Bill's passing. He was a good friend and teammate on Taft swim team. Have reminisced often of those day and how successful he was. He will be missed. God bless you, his loved ones.