William (Bill) Joseph Hotz Sr. was born August 6, 1947 in Burke, SD and passed away on June 7, 2006 at the age of 58. The son of William C. and Mary T. (Pusl) Hotz.

He was raised at Herrick, SD all of his life. He attended Herrick School thru the 8th grade and attended high school at Burke, SD graduating in 1965. After high school he worked construction until he enlisted in the Air Force in March of 1966. He served in the military for several years. He graduated with high honors as a jet mechanic and also received a medal of Commendation. He spent a year and a half in Vietnam as a jet mechanic working on the DMZ at DaNang, Vietnam. After leaving the military he went to work for the Campbell Soup Company in Omaha, NE until 1972.

William then returned home to Herrick, SD and was employed by Miller Bros. Auto Company in Winner, SD as a Automatic Transmission Specialist. In the fall of 1973 he moved to Larrabee, IA to be with his sister Fran, nephew Scott and niece Teresa after the children were burned in a house fire. During this time, he was a very supportive father figure to these two children. In May of 1974 he began working at Hartley, IA at Iowa Beef Specialists as a loin boner and also worked in many other areas of the plant as well, until the time of his death.

William was married to Brenda Beck on August 18, 1977. To this union one son was born, William Joseph Hotz Jr. He was a loving and caring father, teaching his son to fish, hunt and later loved to golf together. He loved country and rock music, baseball, basketball and his favorite football team was the Minnesota Vikings. He especially loved his two grandchildren Jade and Felicity and was always amazed by all the things they could do. He was loved so very much by his entire family and will be greatly missed.

William is survived by his son William (Billy) Hotz. Jr. of Muskogee, OK, his grandchildren Jade and Felicity Hotz of Hartley, IA, Sisters: Clara Simunek of Hot Springs, SD, Marion (Joe) Kacer of Floodwood, MN, Loretta (Wes) McKay of Kelsey, MN, Joyce (Roy) Farabee of Herrick, SD, Frances (Marvin) Gould of Gregory, SD, one sister-in-law Rose Hotz of Hot Springs, SD and by many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers Robert and David, one brother-in-law Jerry Simunek and one nephew Marc Farabee.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, June 12, 2006 at 2:00 PM at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Burke. Burial will be in the Herrick Cemetery, Herrick. There will be a rosoary on Sunday evening at 7:30 PM at the church.