William J. "Bill" Conn

William "Bill" J. Conn, 74, of Brookings, SD passed away surrounded by his family, Thursday, December 5, 2024, at Brookings Health System, Brookings, SD. Memorial Visitation will be held from 5:00pm to 7:00pm Monday, December 9th, 2024 at Rude's Funeral Home, Brookings, SD. In Lieu of flowers, Bill's family would like memorials to be directed to the Brookings Humane Society, Brookings, SD.
William J. Conn was born July 18th, 1950 in Volga, SD to Walter and Phyllis (Boom) Conn. He grew up in Toronto, SD and attended school in White, SD, graduating from Deubrook High School in 1968.
Bill was united in marriage to Brenda E. Tillgren on April 14th, 1973 in Bruce, SD. They had two children, Lance and Tara.
Throughout the years Bill worked several jobs. He worked for Svennes Construction then George Maher Construction. After that, he was the Chief of Police in Estelline, SD and later Sheriff of Kingsbury County. In 1986, Bill, Brenda and their family moved to Punta Gorda, FL and he worked for David Hart Construction in Pt. Charlotte, FL. He also worked as a Security Officer at Snook Haven in Venice, FL. They moved back to Brookings, SD in 1992. Bill then worked for Coast-to-Coast Warehouse and later at Brookings Municipal Utilities where he retired from.
Bill enjoyed watching NASCAR, camping, fishing, bowling, watching and playing anything related to sports, playing cards-especially Poker. He also enjoyed doing his Word-Find book every morning with a cup of coffee. He enjoyed the time he spent with his family the most.
Bill was known to be a trickster. He was caring, hardworking, independent, and he made a point to be 30 minutes early to everything or he considered himself late.
Bill is survived by his wife, Brenda; his children, Lance Conn and Tara (Aaron) Mumby; his grandchildren, Shaylee Mumby, Staysha Mumby (Aaron Mercado) and Kyler Mumby; his great grandchildren, Alaina and Lorenzo Mercado; his brother, Dan (Pam) Conn; his sister-in-law Wilma Tillgren and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Phyllis; his father-in-law and mother-in-law Melvin and Evelyn Tillgren; and his brother-in-law, David Tillgren.