William H. "Bill" VanDeest

William Hunter "Bill" Van Deest passed away on August 18 at age 82. The cause was pancreatic cancer.

Bill was born on May 15, 1943 to Mary Jane (Hunter) and Samuel "Sam" Van Deest in Evansville, Indiana. When "Billy" was a few months old, his father went to Europe to serve in World War II. Until Sam returned in 1946, he was raised by his mother and his Victorian-era great grandparents, which probably accounts for some of Bill's old-fashioned ways.

A self-described "terrible high school student," Bill graduated from Evansville's Bosse High School in 1961 and "by some miracle" was accepted at Wabash College where he studied economics. Upon graduation, he attended law school at University of Chicago and then Indiana University, where he received his JD in 1968. After passing the bar exam, he joined the U.S. Army Reserves. Older and less fit than most of his fellow reservists, he was affectionately known as "Pops Van Diesel." In 1969, he attended his first Indianapolis 500 race with his law school friend Mark Peden. Bill and Mark watched over fifty Indy races together from the stands, the last in 2024.

After practicing law in Indianapolis, Bill accepted a position teaching business law at UW-Platteville in 1970. He quickly befriended a number of other bachelor professors who had found themselves in rural Southwest Wisconsin. Their adventures are legendary. Just when Bill thought he'd have to move away to start a family, he met Diane Deiter. Bill and Diane married in June of 1973 in Cuba City. They welcomed a daughter, Carrie, in 1976 and a son, Sam, in 1983. During his tenure at UW-Platteville, Bill served as chair of the business department and head of extended degree.

In 1974, Bill, Diane, and a UWP colleague started Midwest Title Corporation, a title and abstracting business in Lancaster, WI. He left UW-Platteville in 1982 to run the business full-time. He devoted himself to serving the real estate needs of Grant County until he sold the business in 2002.

Never one to be idle, Bill dabbled in substitute teaching, took on legal arbitration projects,and returned to teach as an adjunct at UW-Platteville. He worked as a consultant for L&M Corrugated Container until his cancer diagnosis in November.

While Bill always considered himself a newcomer in Platteville, for over 55 years he made a full life for himself and his family in the community. He served on numerous volunteer boards, including the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museum, Southwest Health Center, Platteville Community Foundation, Unified Board for Grant and Iowa Counties, Platteville Music Boosters, Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, and the Platteville United Methodist Church. He was a member of the Optimists, the Kiwanis, Rotary, Ducks Unlimited and Izaak Walton. He taught Sunday school and served as a confirmation mentor to a number of students.

Bill had numerous hobbies and interests. He enjoyed basketball, particularly cheering for the UWP Pioneers, Indycar racing, trains of all shapes and sizes, automobiles of every era, hunting, investing, traveling, tractors, the Ostfriesen Heritage Society, fountain pens, baseball cards, American manufacturing, concerts, plays and dance recitals (particularly those featuring his kids and grandkids), and classic movies. He insisted on thoroughly reading any publication that arrived by mail and he read the comics section of the paper every single day. He claimed that he never understood his children's passions, but he was always supportive of their creative and professional endeavors. He loved a good debate, and surrounded himself with friends whom he could good-naturedly provoke. He had regular lunch, dinner, and coffee dates with friends in Lancaster and Platteville at the Arrow Inn, the Owl Cafe, and Country Kitchen.

Bill will be remembered for being generous with his time and friendship and infinitely curious about others. He loved to meet new people. Never without a notecard and pen in his breast pocket, he would write down facts he learned about people in his frequent conversations. In the last few months of his life, he received many visitors and phone calls, all of which he recorded in his yellow spiral notebook.

Bill is survived by his wife of 52 years, Diane. He is also survived by his daughter Carrie (Sam) Van Hallgren of Spring Green and son Sam (Hope) Van Deest of Chalmette, Louisiana; grandchildren David, Susanna, and Hildy Van Hallgren, and Jane-Ellen, Pascoe, Ambrose, Verity, Bernadette, and Vincent Van Deest. He is also survived by his sister, Kitty Dingledine of Atlanta, GA and his brother Tom (Joyce) Van Deest of Spokane, WA, sister-in-law Judy (Brian) Christian, brother-in-law Larry (Michele) Deiter, nieces, nephews, cousins, and many dear friends, neighbors, former colleagues, students, and classmates.

Bill's family would like to thank Dr. Jeff White, the staff at Edenbrook, and the many exceptional nurses in Platteville, Dubuque, and LaCrosse who cared for Bill in the last year.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 AM Saturday, August 23, 2025, at the Platteville United Methodist Church, Platteville. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery, Platteville. Visitation will be from 4:00 – 7:00 PM Friday, August 22, 2025, at the Melby Funeral Home & Crematory, Platteville, and will continue from 10:00 AM until the time of the service on Saturday at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given in Bill's honor to the Platteville United Methodist Church, the Southwest Wisconsin Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, or the Platteville Music Boosters. Online condolences can be made at www.melbyfh.com.