William Mcgee

William Bill McGee was a man with a great mind, an appetite for life and a strong work ethic. His family and friends will remember this fun-loving, active man for his commitment to his work, his love for his family, and his passion for everything he undertook. Bill squeezed a lot of living out of life and his benevolent energy brightened the lives of all those around him. In 1949, while the country was still recovering from the effects of World War II, Harry S. Truman was elected to his second term as President, and George Orwell had just published his novel 1984. In Marquette, Michigan, James and Evelyn (Enright) McGee were celebrating a new beginning of their own, with the birth of their first child, son William, on February 21, 1949. He was followed 2 years later by his brother, Tim, and a year after him by his brother, James, who sadly died shortly after birth. Bill, as he was called, led a typical childhood of the time. His father provided for their family working for the railroad, while his mother was a traditional homemaker. When the boys were out of school for the summer, their mother took them on cross country train trips to visit her family in California. Bill was just a young boy when his Grandma McGee taught him how to play poker, which eventually became a lifelong passion for him. He would play wherever and whenever he could, but always for fun. In high school, Bill was a well rounded student and excelled in just about everything he did. He was captain of the football and basketball teams, set high jump records in track and was president of the Student Council. His sidekick throughout high school was his lifelong friend, Terry Horton. Bill graduated from Bishop Baraga Catholic High School in 1967. A year later, he followed the same patriotic calling of other young men of the time, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He proudly served his country for 2 years during the Vietnam era. Once out of the service, Bill enrolled in classes at Northern Michigan University in 1971, but after a year of the frigid cold, he moved to sunny Florida. He lived here for 3 years and then moved back to Marquette to be closer to his family in 1975. In the winter of 1977, Bill was introduced to Patricia Rathbun through a friend, and it was love at first sight for him. This was something new and scary for Bill, so they took their relationship slow. He shared his passion for poker with Pat too, especially since this was how he was supporting himself at the time. He borrowed $75 from her one time to play in a poker game, and won big; he paid her back and took her out to dinner. After some time, Bill moved to Oklahoma to work as a roughneck in the oilfields. Pat joined him there a short time later, and then they moved to New Orleans, where Bill went to work on off shore oil rigs. While in New Orleans, Bill and Pat were happily married on October 25, 1980 (though their friends only gave them 6 months). After a year, the couple moved back to Oklahoma, where Bill worked as an oil engineer while Pat got a job at Southeastern Oklahoma University. It wasnt long before the couple started a family of their own with the birth of their son, Shawn, in 1982. Wanting to raise their son closer to family, they moved to the Muskegon area in 1982, buying their first home at 2237 Estes in Lakeside. It was here the couple welcomed the birth of their second son, Chris, in 1984. By this time, Bill was working at Bofors Chemical Co. In 1988, his career path took a new direction as he joined the U.S. Postal Service as a Postal Clerk at the Twin Lake Post Office. He worked here for 18 years. Even though Bill worked hard to support his family, he also found time to have fun. He enjoyed a plethora of activities in his leisure time, but Bill didnt just do things he passionately pursued them. Around the time his youngest son was born, Bill bought a 17 ft. sailboat named Erin go Brau, and so began his passion for sailing. In 1984, he fell in love with lake fishing, and it wasnt long before he and Pat bought a new home on Smith Bayou in Spring Lake. Bill even went as far as buying a 22 ft. fishing boat and became a charter boat captain. He eventually sold the boat in 1990, right around the time he fell in love with golf. Like everything else, Bill vigorously pursued learning the game. He went on to be an assistant golf coach at Spring Lake High School for 2 years. One of Bills favorite pastimes that he has enjoyed since childhood was playing poker. He played in games at the Elks, Eagles and Polish Falcon Lodges, and enjoyed teaching his sons the ropes too. It was a proud day for Bill when his boys could beat him at a game of poker, because he only played to win. Later on, Bill started playing poker online, which was a great feat for him. He also played in the World Poker Tour cruise in 2004, and was quite successful ranking high in the money standings. Obviously, Bill was a very intelligent man. He had mastered poker as well as the intricate game of chess. He enjoyed teaching youngsters how to play this complex game, and even started a chess club at Holmes Elementary School. While Bill had many things that he was passionate about, his wife Pat had a love for horses, so they moved to the country on 12 acres of land on State Road, complete with a barn and fenced in land for horses to roam on. They liked the open country so much that they bought a cabin and 20 acres of land in Freesoil in 1998, a place Bill truly came to love. Although he and Pat enjoyed being homebodies, they took time to travel a bit too, visiting places like Las Vegas, New Orleans, Niagara Falls, Boston and New York. Although Bills life was happy, it was also marked by great sorrow. He was utterly devastated when he lost his mom, Evelyn, in 2001, and then his brother, Tim, in December 2010. However, he was always able to find comfort in his wife and sons, and their life together. William F. "Bill" McGee, age 61, of Nunica, MI died after a brief illness on Wednesday, February 2, 2011. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Patricia; sons, Shawn McGee of Chicago & Chris McGee of Marquette, MI; father, James McGee of Marquette; several nieces & nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother, Evelyn, and his brother, Tim. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, March 5, at 3:00 p.m. at Crockery Township Hall, 17431 112th Avenue, Nunica, MI 49448. Memorial contributions may be made to Harbor Hospice. Please visit Bills personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you may share a memory with his family or sign his online guest book.