William 'Bill' Behr

Age 94.
Beloved husband of the late Pat. Loving pa of John, Anne, Linda (Tom) Croll, and William (Lori). Cherished grandpa of Haley, Zachary, Amy, Adam, Robin, Kelley, and Mary. Proceded in death by his sister, Dolores.
William Roger Behr was born at home in Detroit, the first child of William Edward Behr and Helen (Michaluk) Behr. His only sibling, Dolores was born 2 years later. He and his sister grew up in the family home at 8049 Wetherby Street in Detroit and attended Sherrill grade school and Mackenzie High School.
During his youth, he had many jobs including as a shoe shine boy, delivering ice and coal, youth counselor at Detroit Rec Center & Kronk Gym, he was a laborer at Lincoln Ford plant in Detroit, and also worked at Herb Scott Trucking.
He especially liked ushering at the Fisher Theater. He wasn't paid, but got so see all the acts for free, although his favorite job was shoe shining because he met many interesting people, heard their stories and the tips were good!
Often he and his family visited the Michaluk family farm, where he played with cousins and often took care of the chicken coop. "Filthy birds."
Living in Detroit offered wonderful opportunities for adventure, including taking a bus or street car to downtown Detroit, or to visit his friend Lew on the East side and often to the pools at Rouge Park. "You could go anywhere in the city for a nickel."
He enjoyed going with his father to his business downtown, a garage located on Temple Street near the Masonic Temple. In addition to mechanics, the garage offered parking and storage for the Masonic Temple. Many interesting vehicles were stored there ("Now days they'd be worth a fortune") and even housed animal acts when the animals were not allowed in the hotels. One such animal was a circus dog, who entertained and enthralled him and his sister while he was in their care.
The first time he saw his future wife, Helen "Pat" Brake, she was playing marbles and was "beating the pants" off all competitors. They both grew up spending time with the same group of friends (and some cousins) and most remained lifelong friends.
He was able to work his way through college, and graduated from University of Detroit with a degree in Journalism and English.
After graduating from college in 1952, he was inducted in the U. S. Army at Fort Wayne in Detroit. From there he went to Fort Custer and then to Fort Riley Kansas where he completed basic training as a Private in the 87th Infantry Division.
After completing basic training, he was transferred to Fort Holabird in Baltimore Maryland, for training in the Counter Intelligence School as an Investigator.
During the second year with the army, he took leave to return to Detroit to marry Pat Brake at St. Luke's Church on March 14, 1953. From there, they Honeymooned in Niagara Falls and returned to Baltimore, where they lived in a Row house on Elmwood Street in Dundalk, Maryland.
After being Honorably discharged from the army, they returned to Detroit to live and soon moved to a newly build subdivision on Nightingale Street, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, where he resided the rest of his life.
During these years, he worked in the advertising business as a copywriter with J. Walter Thompson, BBDO, Kenyan & Eckhardt, and later Ross Roy Communications, where he finished his career as Creative Director. Most of these years were spent working with Dodge, mostly writing advertisement for the Dodge Truck division. He also wrote a few television commercials for Orange Crush and Domino's Pizza.
For recreation, he played softball, coached his daughters' softball team, spectated at school sporting events, graduations, helped organize neighborhood activities including Block parties and 4th of July Celebrations, took the family on vacations to Grand Lake, Louisville Kentucky, Daytona Beach and other destinations.
He maintained a very active social life with his work family, and had 2 wonderful long term relationships in his midlife.
After retirement, he enjoyed traveling, most frequently to Las Vegas and Florida. He often traveled with family members, and spent many hours with his children and grandchildren for the remainder of his life.
He will be best remembered for his generosity, his sense of humor and his dedication to being a single parent/grandparent to his children and grandchildren.