William Joseph Vernagus

William Joseph Vernagus, age 88, of Lake Orion passed away peacefully on December 6, 2025 surrounded by family. Bill is the beloved husband of Deanna (McCarty); dear brother of Sharon Valko; loving father of Raymond (wife Karenn) and Kevin (wife Andrea); loving grandfather of Ariel and Rahm (Ray and Karenn’s children), and Elijah, Adilane, and Oliann (Kevin and Andrea’s children). Bill is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

He was born on October 18, 1937 at Providence Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, to Adam William Vernagus and Eleanor Jeanne Vernagus (Atkins). He spent his younger years in Dearborn, Michigan, along with his younger sister, Sharon (Valko). The family moved to Sault Ste Marie when Bill was around the age of 9, after his father was drafted into the Army. Growing up, he enjoyed putting on neighborhood carnivals (where he was the snake charmer), playing baseball, and discussing and calculating baseball statistics with friends. He graduated from Sault Ste Marie High School in 1955.

After high school, Bill worked in the Sault locks surveying depths, completed some college, but eventually joined the Army. During his time in the Army from 1957 to 1959, he earned a Good Conduct medal and achieved high levels in rifle and machine gun mastery. After the Army, he completed his Associate’s degree from Lake Superior State University.

He lived a single life for a while in the metro Detroit area, nearly labeled an eternal bachelor, until a blind date on New Year’s Eve 1970. That was the night he met his future wife of 54 years, Deanna McCarty. They were engaged by June of 1971 and married on November 19, 1971. Their first son, Raymond, was born just short of a year later in 1972. Their second son, Kevin was born in 1974. The family lived in Pontiac until 1978 when they made Lake Orion their home and have lived here ever since. Bill worked as an Engineer at Consumer’s Energy for 35 years, before retiring in 1998.

While Bill will claim to “never win this game”, regardless of the game, he was a winner at life. He always loved any type of game, board games and card games, and even tried a couple times to submit new ideas to game companies. He tackled puzzles of all kinds as well, including jigsaws, crosswords, sudoku, etc. Bill instilled a love of traveling in his boys as the family would take road trip vacations across the country and spent many weekends camping. He enjoyed bowling in his younger years and disc golf in his older years, but throughout his life he could be found drawing maps on a big board in the living room nearly every night. Most of all, Bill was content in life to just be with his beloved wife, family, and friends.

The family will welcome friends and family for a visitation on Sunday, December 14, 2025 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. with a 4:00 p.m. Scripture Service at Sparks-Griffin Funeral Home in Lake Orion, MI. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, December 15, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lake Orion, MI.