William Van Camp Sr

William Van Camp Sr., 81, of Fort Pierre, SD, died at home on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 am on Friday, December 19, 2025 at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Pierre, SD.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Pierre/Ft Pierre Food Pantry, 108 W Missouri, Pierre, SD 57501 in Bill's memory if you wish. CLICK HERE FOR LIVESTREAM
William Howard Van Camp and his wife Elsie Hannah Olesen had thought that they would never have children when Elsie moved to California in1943 to be with Howard. He was scheduled to be shipped overseas with his National Guard unit when it was called up. Elsie discovered that she was pregnant and she would have to drive back to South Dakota by herself since Howard was leaving for the Pacific theater and he was not given permission to take her. The family story was that Howard's father, W.N., gathered enough gas coupons for Elsie and she drove across county at 45 mph stopping early each day. On January 18, 1944, William Michael Van Camp was born. Named after a long line of Van Camps, often with William as a first name, his father did not see him until he was 2 years old after the war ended.
When Bill's brother, Jim, was about to be born 3 ½ years later, Elsie went in to tell Bill good night. Bill said cheerfully, "are you going to a party, Mom?" So the party grew to 4 and they stayed in Pierre until the Korean War broke out, when Howard, still in the National Guard, was called up. In Bill's first year of school they moved from Colorado Springs, to Georgia and back to Colorado Springs. Bill had many wonderful memories of the time at Ft Benning and time spent with his Dad and Jim Boocock. It was too many moves for the 1st grader, so Elsie decided to stay in Pierre while Howard was in Alaska where he stayed until the end of the war.
Bill was a graduate of Lincoln grade school, Pierre Junior High and Pierre High School in 1962. He attended the University of South Dakota, chose history as his major and ROTC following in his father's footsteps. While many of his college stories shouldn't be repeated, he managed to graduate and then he had a decision to make. If he left in 1966 he'd have to go right into the Army and possibly straight to Vietnam. So he enrolled in graduate school in 1967. As he stood against the wall waiting to go into a class on History of Latin America, a young woman he hadn't seen before walked up the stairs to attend the same class. Nancy Willen had graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1966, worked in Washington DC, and returned to USD to attend graduate school as well. Bill said he waited several weeks, said she seemed friendly, and he got up his nerve to ask her out. She accepted although she laughed and said if they went on Friday, she would miss her favorite TV show, "Star Trek." Bill gleefully said it was his favorite show as well and we could watch it together in the Student Union and go to dinner on Saturday. Nancy remembers thinking, "Really, a whole week-end." So it wasn't just a week-end, it turned out to be a lifetime.
Bill did go into active duty in 1968, tried helicopter school which wasn't for him. So he returned to tanks. Nancy always said he picked that because he hated to walk. Nancy was teaching in Satellite Beach, Fla and the two traveled back and forth between Texas and Florida and were married in June, 1969. They settled into Ft Hood, Texas, where their son, William Michael Jr was born. Bill was deployed to Vietnam as an advisor to a Vietnamese Infantry Battalion in 1971. Infantry means you have to walk, and through the jungle. Bill contracted almost every disease you could get and was eventually medevacked out of Vietnam in July 1972. The family then moved to Ft Knox where they lived until 1973. Benjamin was born in Kentucky. At Nancy's request he was not born in an Army hospital. When he left the Army they all moved back to Pierre. Margaret Elsie was born in the same hospital in Pierre that her father was, probably the same room not remodeled.
After returning to Pierre, Bill joined his dad and brother at W.N. Van Camp Insurance Company. He was an insurance underwriter there until he was 66 when he and Jim sold the business. He loved hunting, coffee with his friends, golf and boating. He never missed a game in which his children participated. When he got older he also never missed watching a game or wrestling match if it was on TV and he didn't have to sit in the stands. Most importantly, he was always reading. He read science fiction, history and other topics most people ignore. His son-in-law once asked him why he read a book on the History of Salt. Bill didn't answer, just continued to read.
Bill was intelligent, opinioned, loud, and deeply loving. He was always extremely generous with people he knew and suspicious of people he didn't. After hearing the story of his second son, Ben, who worked in a restaurant, he was aware of how little money servers can make. One time after leaving a restaurant in Destin, Fla where he and Nancy spent several winters, a waiter chased them out the door to thank Bill for his generous tip. The man said he'd just had a long, difficult shift, was tired, and couldn't thank Bill enough for what he left and how that changed his day.
If it's true that the greatest gift a man can leave his children is loving their mother, Bill passed that one with flying colors. Marriage is always a series of ups and downs, and this one was no exception. But through all 56 years, Nancy never doubted how much he loved her. Bill also loved his children from the bottom of his heart, even though it didn't always seem like that as he'd pass the phone over and say, "Here, here's your mother." Then he would quiz Nancy for all the details.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Howard and Elsie. He is survived by his wife, Nancy and his children, Bill and his wife, Tina, Ben and his partner Paula, and Margaret and her husband Greg Lundstom. He is also survived by his beloved grandsons, Will and Jack Van Camp, and Grant and Camden Lundstrom as well as by his brother James E and his wife Gayle. Bill additionally has a number of nieces and nephews who loved him and a sister-in-law, Peggy Willen Jackson who was especially close.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Pierre/Ft Pierre Food Pantry, 108 W Missouri, Pierre, SD 57501 in Bill's memory if you wish.