William Roger ("Bill") Gerse passed away peacefully on January 1, 2025, at the age of 97, on what would have been his beloved wife Lois' 98th birthday. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 6:00 PM Monday January 13, 2025 at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island. Funeral services will be 10:00 AM Tuesday January 14, 2025 at First Lutheran Church, Moline.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be left in Bill's name to First Lutheran Church.

Bill was born on October 18, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois to William and Clara Gerse. As Bill was the first boy baby born at the new Belmont Hospital, the family was awarded a ton of coal. Times were often tough, especially after Bill's father died when Bill was fourteen, and Bill remembers looking under the sofa cushions for change with his sister Jean. Upon graduation from Roosevelt High School, Bill joined the army in the later months of the Second World War. As he tells it, he proudly "fought the battle of Wisconsin", and afterwards worked in the dental division of Percy Jones Hospital (Battle Creek, Michigan) preparing dental prosthetics for injured veterans. For 32 years Bill was a pharmaceutical representative for Wyeth Laboratories, earning several salesman of the year awards.

Perhaps even more fulfilling was Bill's second "career" as a volunteer. For over 10 years, Bill served as a "Befriender" for Trinity Regional Health Services, listening to patients, praying with them, and relaying any concerns or problems to hospital chaplains. In 2009, the hospital chaplain was quoted in a local newspaper as saying "Bill is a very faithful, conscientious and very caring person." Proud of his German heritage, Bill also served for many years as a volunteer docent at the German-American Cultural Center in Davenport, IA.

A lifelong Lutheran, Bill met his future wife Lois at Jefferson Park Lutheran Church in Chicago, and the couple was married for 68 years until Lois' passing in 2023. Bill's career took the newlyweds first to Lafayette, Indiana, where their sons Steven and David were born, and then to Lombard, Illinois, where they adopted their daughter Linda. The family moved to Coal Valley, Illinois in 1979, and Bill and Lois became members of First Lutheran Church in Moline, where Bill sang in the choir for many years. Bill enjoyed classical music, golf, feeding the birds in his yard, and especially leading the Schnitzelbank song at the family's annual Oktoberfest celebration.

Bill is survived by sons Steve Gerse (Marion) of Woodland Hills, CA, and Dave Gerse (Jackie) of Overland Park, KS, and daughter Linda Wuerzburger (Dan Lavine) of Erie, IL. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren and was preceded in death by his wife Lois and sister Jean.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Friendship Manor, Trinity Rock Island and Dr. Keevan's office for their compassionate and excellent care.