William B. Cherkasky

Cherkasky

William B. Cherkasky

The much beloved Bill Cherkasky passed into the great beyond on July 26, 2023, at home with his dog, Waffles, and surrounded by family. He was just shy of 99. Almost until the end he was alert, sharp-minded, and joking with his many visitors and those who reached out by phone or FaceTime. While making his last arrangements, he had the hospice workers in stitches.



William Benjamin Cherkasky was born to Ukrainian immigrants Ben and Anna Cherkasky on August 11, 1924, in Madison, Wisconsin. He was raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, with two brothers: Simon, who was nearly 10 years older, and Rudy, four years younger. By about 1938 his father owned and operated the Quaker Dairy, and at 16 Bill began working for him, delivering bottled milk to homes in the middle of the night.



In September 1942, he entered a premed program at Northwestern University. The United States had entered World War II the previous December, and after one semester he joined the Army Air Corps. At 112 pounds, he was afraid he wouldn't pass the physical, but "They were taking everybody," he said later. He trained as a medic. The Army wanted to use his medical skills on the home front, but he preferred to see action and petitioned to be sent overseas. He arrived in France in January 1945 and became part of the 89th Infantry Division in the 3rd Armyâ€"General Patton's Armyâ€"which liberated Europe. Private First Class Cherkasky was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism when, in the face of hostile fire, he rescued an injured comrade near Zelle, Germany. In early April 1945, his division liberated the first Nazi concentration camp to be liberated, Ohrdruf, a subcamp of Buchenwald. Later, he would point the curators of the in-development U.S. Holocaust Museum to a photo of this event in his division yearbook. The image, in all its horror, greets visitors as they step off the elevator on the top floor of the museum. He recorded his World War II memories for the Veterans Oral History Project, at https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.81719/



After he was discharged, in 1946, he picked up his studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and switched to business. He met a fellow student, Shirley Schroeder, at a tobogganing party, and they married on February 4, 1950. They settled in Appleton, and Bill returned to working for the Quaker Dairy. Through Shirley, he got involved in Democratic politics and, when John F. Kennedy campaigned in Appleton in 1960, drove the presidential candidate around. Pointing out the cemetery where Sen. Joe McCarthy is buried, Bill joked that he liked occasionally to "water" the grave. Kennedy did not find this funny.



In early 1966, Sen. Gaylord Nelson helped Bill find a job in Washington, DC, at the Commerce Department, and the family left Appleton. His daughters remember with pleasure outings to the places their dad had discovered in DC, especially the Circle Theatre. In late 1966 Bill joined Nelson's staff, and in 1970 The New York Times named him and several other Hill staffers in an article called "Who Runs Congress?" He was among those who, with Nelson, created Earth Day as a way of forcing environmental issues onto the national agenda. It was celebrated for the first time in April 1970.



His marriage to Shirley Cherkasky ended in divorce. In 1976 he married Gloria Phillips.



Gaylord Nelson was one of the progressive senators successfully targeted by the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) in 1980, and Bill ended up at the International Franchise Association, as executive director. He retired in his 70s, and he and Gloria enjoyed traveling, golfing, playing flute and piano duets, and entertaining friends and family. He also returned to an old pastime, painting. After Gloria moved to a memory care facility in early 2021, he visited her daily.



In August 2021, to celebrate the lifting of Covid restrictions and his 97th birthday, he threw himself a big backyard party.



In 2022 he traveled with family members to New York City, Greece, and also, for the first time, Israel, where he visited sacred Jewish sites. In addition, hoping to gain an understanding of Israeli culture and society, he met and interviewed citizens, soldiers, and members of the Knesset. Remarkably, he had a chance to speak with a 90-year-old man who as a child had survived Buchenwald. He himself was interviewed at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem.



Back home, he continued driving and playing golf almost until the end. Family members and neighbors dropped by frequently because they enjoyed his companyâ€"and his wit and wisdom.



Besides Gloria Cherkasky, immediate survivors include his daughters Mara, Clare (Tasos Hatzipanagiotis), and Lisa Cherkasky; grandchildren Rachel Roderick, Dionne Hernandez, and Theodore Telzrow; great-grandson William Elliott; great-great-granddaughter Liliana Elliott-Anderson; stepchildren Charles, Piper (Phil Caswell), and Kirk Phillips; and step-grandchildren Madeline Gay, Graham Caswell, Cory Kargbo, Travis Gay, Drew Caswell, and Gabe Phillips. Stepdaughter Bonnie Phillips Gay predeceased him. His nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren also held him dear and spoke with him often. Inurnment, and a service, will be at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial donations may be sent to the progressive candidate or cause of your choice.