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William Yonker Obituary
Yonker, William Morris "Bill"
Bill passed away August 8th, 2022 in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri at the age of 75. With a sense of humor and story-telling ability like no other, Bill was always the life of the party and loved to be surrounded by friends and laughter. Bill was an incredible artist and shared his creative mind with his students at MICDS for over 40 years. As a lover of art, history, travel, teaching, golf, cooking, reading, fishing, and watching sports and Jeopardy, he filled his life with the things he cherished most. Bill was a loyal friend. He will be missed by many, and never forgotten.
He is survived by partner of 35 years Renee Flanders, sister Sally Fitzgerald (Richard), his daughters Elizabeth Fassler (Nicholas) and Emily Yonker, grandchild Mary Alice Fassler, granddog Alice, nieces, nephews, and many friends.
A Celebration of life will be held for family and friends.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for William Yonker
6 Entries
Elizabeth Rechter
August 30, 2022
Mr. Yonker opened the world of art history to me at MICDS and I will be forever grateful.
Tib Albach
August 21, 2022
Bill redefined "educated cool". A Maplewood-Richmond Heights graduate who became a well respected MICDS mentor. Great sense of humor. His mom and dad were part of the fabric of East Richmond......integrity driven folks. May he Rest In Peace. God bless all who loved him.
Bradford A Harkness
August 17, 2022
An amazing teacher, animated every lesson with a vibrancy fit for the greatest stage.
Derek Bryant
August 15, 2022
I´m really sorry to hear about Bill´s passing. His infectious enthusiasm for art has stuck with me since high school. He was and will remain to be one of my absolute favorite teachers. I´ll
miss you Bill.
Kathleen Checkett
August 14, 2022
Dear Family and Friends of Bill: A wonderful friend was Bill. We grew up blocks apart in Richmond Heights. His Mother was our arts and crafts teacher in Summer Playground, a lovely person. His Father so funny and kind. Bill was an incredible artist, a modest intellectual, a funny funny person. We shared many fun times during our college years, when back in Richmond Heights. When the St. Louis Zoo had an exhibition of koala bears, we ran into each other as we each were there with our respective little daughters. I still have the photos. It´s funny the things one remembers at these times, here´s a memory that came up. I became a Comparative World Literature and English teacher. I often used the word "corpulent" in vocabulary exercises. When ever I did, I always thought of Bill and our friend John Carnosiotis, because I first heard that word used by them, on multiple occasions actually, during their typical enlightening and humorous banter. Both of them always smiling. Another memory, is receiving a phone call from Bill, saying he scored some tickets to a James Brown concert at Kiel Auditorium. It was to take place in a couple days, we were both "single" at the time, so we went as the friends we were. This concert was not advertised as far as I knew, and I was wondering if there really would be one. When we got to Kiel, we were directed to a very small room, seating maybe 200 or so people, my guess. Folding chairs were set up. That was strange. Even stranger, we were seated in the first row, center seats. Omgosh. The real James Brown came out, with his band, and there ensued several hours of the best concert ever. I never did ask Bill where he got those tickets. Thereafter, for years, Bill enjoyed imitating James Brown spinning around, adding perfect hand gestures, and a James Brown howl.
There is no doubt in my mind, that Bill is in heaven, entertaining all, with that wonderful smile, laugh, and thoughtful kindness.
May God´s blessings be all of yours.
Sincerely and with the deepest condolences,
Kathy Checkett
David and Linda Kanevsky
August 14, 2022
We send our sincere sympathy to Bill´s family. He was a great guy and a good friend. We are so sad and will miss you, Bill!
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