William Born

William "Bill" D. Born, 91, passed away peacefully with his daughter by his side on Friday, October 24, 2025.

Loving father of Kathy (Tom) Fitzgerald and Kristi (Kent) Hanna. Cherished grandfather of Katie (Nick Duffield) Fitzgerald, Alicia Hanna, Erin (Anthony Keblesh) Manella and Christopher (Christina) Hanna. Devoted great grandfather of Walker, Genevieve, Mason and Hudson.

Bill was born in Aurora, IL on May 10, 1934 to William and Esther Born. He attended East Aurora High School from which he graduated in 1952. Bill joined the United States Army as a young man and was enlisted from October of 1956 until October of 1958. He was stationed in Germany where he worked as an airplane mechanic. He took a great amount of pride in this work, as he did with everything he did. He was such a good mechanic that there was one particular pilot who would only fly the airplanes that Bill worked on. His pride in his service to his country went far beyond him as his grandson also joined the Army as a young man. One fond memory his daughter has was that Bill had, at one time, given her son his Army hat and when her son came back from the Army he gave his hat to his grandfather. Bill worked for and retired from "Illinois Bell." In the beginning, he was a lineman and in the later years he worked at the FAA Tower in Aurora, maintaining the lines to help assure safe air traffic. Bill was also an avid outdoorsman and particularly enjoyed fishing and hunting. He hunted everything from deer to ducks and more. His love for the outdoors was passed along to his children and grandchildren and so they enjoyed fishing and hunting together with Bill. He not only liked fishing but also liked talking about the sport with anyone and everyone who would partake in conversation. As Bill got older he seemed to gain a soft spot for animals as he became a huge animal lover, whether it be pet dogs or watching the deer in his yard.

The family would like to thank the staff members of Bickford of Oswego as well as Angel's Grace Hospice for the care they took of Bill, with a special thanks to Kim, Jackalyn and Marylin for the extra compassion and care shown towards him.

William will be dearly missed by all who knew him.