Professor William Norman "Bill" Shannon III

1937 - 2024

Professor William "Bill" Norman Shannon III

Professor William "Bill" Norman Shannon III was born November 20, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois. He has lived a rich and fulfilling life and was called to heaven on June 13, 2024.

He is survived by his loving wife of 62 years Bernice "Bonnie" Urbanowicz Shannon. Bill was a loving father to his three daughters and devoted grandpa to his five grandsons. He is survived by his daughter, Kathleen Kelly Shannon (Esq) and her sons, Ryan and Daniel Schmidt, his daughter, Colleen Patricia Shannon (Architect) and her son, Dr. Declan Shannon, his daughter, Dr. Kerrie Ann Shannon and her sons, Frederik and Charles Shannon. Bill and Bonnie met in 1960 in Toledo, Ohio, where he was working at Westinghouse Corporation and she was teaching first grade. The group of friends from those years have been faithful lifelong friends. He proposed to Bonnie in 1961 and they were married in 1962. They spent a lot of time with the supportive family in Toledo and always enjoyed going back for visits.

Bill was born the son of Lillian (Lee) Lewis Shannon and William Norman Shannon Jr. He was a dedicated son and after his father passed, he called his mother daily. He celebrated his Irish heritage and played the Irish Rovers for his family, put giant shamrocks in the windows each St. Patrick's Day and found it "neat" to fly into the Shannon Airport in Ireland. He took his family to County Sligo, Ireland, where he traced his family heritage. His absolute fascination with trains began when his father, a buyer for Sears and Roebuck, arranged for young Bill to ride the trains with the engineers. Bill continued his lifelong love of trains and purchased a Caboose to move to Alden, Michigan in 1995. He was an integral part of Saint Mary's College, and the Sisters of the Holy Cross gifted him an engine, which he displays at the Alden Depot in Michigan. Professor Shannon devoted 28 years to Saint Mary's College. His three girls and wife would tease him that they provided the best training for him to teach at an all-women's college. Bill had a photographic memory and a gift for maps and locations. Long before Google Maps, Bill could provide detailed directions and fun facts about anywhere in the United States and Europe. Bill was incredibly intelligent and his extensive vocabulary made him a great orator and teacher.

Professional and Academic Achievements: Bill went to Carnegie Technical Institute (now Carnegie Mellon University) where he studied a combined program of Engineering (both mechanical and electrical) and Economics and Business Administration. He graduated with honors in 1959 and moved from Pittsburg to Toledo, Ohio, where he worked for Westinghouse in their defense contracting division as an application engineer. In 1963 he received his Master of Business Administration from University of Toledo. He then worked for Toledo Scale as a District Manager in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Bill also worked for a consulting company, where he co-authored a book on laboratory and computer systems in the life sciences as well as 22 articles. He then worked for Hobart Food Equipment industry in Troy, Ohio. He received an offer to become the Corporate Vice President of Berkel Corporation in Indiana and the President of Berkel Canada. It was his experience at Berkel, a Dutch owned company, that sparked his interest in International business. Bill was founder of the successful Mexican Restaurant chain, The Hacienda. In 1978, he was awarded "The Entrepreneur of the Year," after this successful startup. He was appointed to the White House Small Business National Advisory Council by President George Bush and was again appointed by President Clinton. He traveled to the White House several times to meet with both Presidents and their cabinets. The restaurant chain, The Hacienda, changed many ways food service looked at employment including shortening the work week to 5 days, offering health care and retirement plans and a training path for promotion within for employees. In 1983, he joined the faculty at Saint Mary's College, where he was the director of Marketing and International Business. He taught courses on Marketing, Sales Management, International Business, and designed several International Study Abroad Summer Programs. His international courses took students to meet with executives at Guinness, Harrods, Loreal and even arranged a special fashion show at Printemps in Paris. Bill continued to bring in real world experiences to his classroom with his business and service endeavors. Bill believed in service to his community and was instrumental in making important changes; Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Holy Cross College, where he was instrumental in Holy Cross becoming a four year accredited college. He also served as, Director of the Board of Trustee for Mental Health in Indiana, Director of Area Junior Achievement, served as a member of the National Association of Business and Economics, Vice President of the Regional Chamber of Commerce. He was humble about his instrumental contribution to the national group developing the bar code. Bill was a devoted husband, father and in his eyes, the most important, a devoted grandfather. He loved sailing, squash and tennis and instead of pursuing his own interests in retirement he never failed to get down on the floor to build magna-tile structures with the boys, run brio trains, bring out the kiddie pool filled with sand toys or spend countless hours at the Festival of Trains. Bill was all about providing for his family and keeping them safe as his way to demonstrate his love. If you ever drove by, you could see this from the "Slow Down Children at Play" signs in front of the house. He left a legacy in the Shannon Scholar Series, that he and Bonnie started at St. Mary's College, where year accomplished alumni are invited back to Saint Mary's College to speak. He encouraged Bonnie in her own business endeavors and he mentored students for almost 30 years and was a huge influence on his children and grandchildren. He made several academic and professional contributions and most import to him was all the time he spent with his family.

He was also preceded in death by his in-laws, Francis (Frank) and Genevive Urbanowicz; his brother-in-law, Frank Urbanowicz; his sister-in-law, and her husband, Joan and Richard Bohn. He is survived by his nephew, Richard (JR) and his wife Donna Bohn (son Connor). Bill is survived by his sister, Kay (Carl) the Losen and their children: John, Willie, Wells, Katie and Carla. As Bill would often say to his family at night, "Pleasant Dreams!"

Services for Professor William N. Shannon III will be on Monday, July 22, 2024, at The Church of Our Lady of Loretto at Saint Mary's College with visitation at 1:00 p.m. and Mass at 1:30 p.m. A luncheon will follow at 3:00 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn at St. Mary's on Saint Mary's Campus. Donations in Professor William N. Shannon's name can be made to: Shannon Scholars, Saint Mary's College, Development Office, 110 Le Mans Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (https://saintmarys.edu/give) BrightFocus: BrightFocus Alzheimer's Disease Research and Macular Degeneration Research (BrightFocus.org/" target="_new" rel="nofollow">https://www.BrightFocus.org/)Alzheimer's Association Planned Giving | Alzheimer's Association.