William Edward Glennon

William (“Bill”) Glennon spent several years working on a chronicle detailing numerous instances throughout his long lifetime when he survived life-threatening challenges. He finally finished the book (entitled ”On Borrowed Time”) and distributed copies to some family members and friends in 2018. Emboldened by having completed that endeavor, he hoped to have a sufficient amount of additional “borrowed time” to complete chronicles on the lives of several other family members. However, before he could complete those projects, his streak of “Good Luck” expired – and so did he – at the age of 88.

William Edward Glennon departed this life on August 14, 2021 and entered the life everlasting promised by Jesus Christ. He was born on June 17, 1933 in Chicago, the first of five children of William Thomas and Bernice Wilhelmina (Meyer) Glennon.

After attending St. Timothy Catholic School in Chicago, as well as two schools in Ohio during the World War II years, he graduated from Chicago’s St. Bartholomew Elementary School and from Loyola Academy when it was located in Chicago. After working at Inland Steel Company for two years, he entered the Army where he proudly served in Korea with the Corps of Engineers during the Korean War. When he returned home, he resumed working at Inland Steel Company in addition to beginning college coursework, grateful for the financial assistance provided by the G.I. Bill of Rights.

He married his teenage sweetheart, Georgiana T. Schutz Glennon on May 4, 1957 at St. Pascal Catholic Church in Chicago. Their marriage was blessed with the birth of five children: Donna (Gregory), William (Stephanie), James (Nicole), Jeanne (Chester “Tony”) and Diane (fiancé Bob). Georgiana and Bill are also the proud grandparents of Michael (Colleen), Cynthia (Al), Alyssa, Alexis (Ben), Jordan (fiancé Samantha), Curtis, Vincenzo (“Vinnie”), Kendall, Amanda (Michael), William, Abigail, Sarah, Erin, Samantha and Meghan and are the great grandparents of John, Bryce, Colette and Tori.

Two years after their marriage, when Georgiana and Bill were starting their own family, they purchased a home jointly with his family, which consisted of his terminally ill father and his mother, as well as his 16 year old sister (Kathleen) and his brothers (Thomas and Daniel, ages 13 and 8). Bill’s father died in 1963 and his siblings eventually moved on. Georgiana became the major caretaker of her mother-in-law during the later years of her life until she passed away in 2005 at the age of 94½.

Bill attended night school for many years on the GI Bill of Rights as well as on two scholarships and as the recipient of a National Science Foundation Grant, which enabled him to obtain an Associate of Arts degree from Oakton Community College, a Bachelor’s degree from the Northwestern University Evening Division, a Master of Arts in the Teaching of Natural Science from Northeastern Illinois University and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Science Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was also a graduate of the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Training Academy and was a Certified Police Officer and Juvenile Officer as well as a Certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Instructor. In addition, Bill was the recipient of an Alumni Merit Award from Northwestern University in 1992 and was selected the Kane County Middle School Educator of the Year in 1993. As a police officer he was given numerous citations and awards, including Life Saving Awards. None of his training and academic work would have been accomplished without Georgiana’s loving and incomparable encouragement, support and assistance with each and every course of his studies.

Bill’s full-time employment, in addition to 5 years with Inland Steel Company and 2 years in the U.S. Army, included year-long periods with Columbia Manufacturing Company, Midwest Law Printing Company and Baxter Laboratories (Flint Eaton Pharmaceutical Division). Also 2½ years of employment with Ceco Steel Company’s Lemont Manufacturing Company, 31 years with Elgin School District U-46, and 18 years with the South Barrington Police Department (13 years of part-time employment and 5 years of full-time employment).

When income from his full-time employment as a teacher was insufficient for his large family’s needs, Bill also was employed on a part-time basis by Burns International Detective Agency, the University of Chicago’s Public Opinion Research Council, the University of Illinois’ Survey Research Center, the U.S. Postal Service (9 years), as an instructor in the Oakton Community College Evening Program ( 4 years), the Park Ridge Police Department (17 years) and the S&C Electric Company Security Department (15 years). Following his retirement from the Elgin Public Schools, he continued his part-time employment as an adjunct professor at Triton College, as a recruiter/trainer with the U.S. Census Bureau and also at Houghton Mifflin Company’s Riverside Press where he was a science test item writer for standardized state assessment examinations.

For 15 years, Bill and Georgiana lived part-time at White Lake in Wisconsin where they were parishioners at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Weyauwega, Wisconsin.

In addition to his parents, he was pre-deceased by his sister Kathleen, his brothers Thomas and Daniel, and his good friends Peter, Patrick, Ione, Nick, Len and Niels.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his 5 children, 15 grandchildren, 2 great grandsons, 2 great granddaughters and his sister, Patricia (David) and sisters-in-law Judi and Margie. Bill is also survived in death by his closest friend ever since elementary school, Norm. Other survivors include numerous nieces, nephews and cousins as well as his good friends Mary D. and Mary K.

Bill has been a member of the Elgin Teachers Association, Illinois Education Association, National Education Association, Phi Delta Kappa, Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 25, Niles Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3579, Park Ridge American Legion Post 247, Illinois Police Association, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 255, Maria Council #4836, Knights of Columbus (4th Degree), and the White Lake Preservation Association as well as St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Park Ridge for the past 62 years.

Visitation will be from 3:00-8:00 pm on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at Oehler Funeral Home, 2099 Miner Street, Des Plaines, Illinois. Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10:00 am on Thursday, August 19, 2021 at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church, 320 S. Washington St., Park Ridge, Illinois. Interment, with military honors, will be at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate, 1433 Essington Road, Joliet, IL 60435-2873, to the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, 1140 W. Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60607-2955, or to the Wounded Warriors Project, 4899 Belfort Rd., Ste., 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256.