William Leatherman, 76, of East Moline, passed away Saturday October 18, 2014 at his home.
Funeral services will be 10:00am Wednesday at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, Rock Island. Visitation will be from 4:00-7:00pm Tuesday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Chippiannock Cemetery, Rock Island. Memorials may be left to the Exceptional Care, Sterling or Rock Island Parks Department.
William was born on August 14, 1938 in Rock Island, the son of Earl and Ruth (Paradise) Leatherman.
He was married to Bonnie Muhleman for 49 years until her passing in 2007. Bill and Bonnie were high
school sweethearts and lived in Orion IL for most of their marriage. They were active in their church in
Orion and enjoyed traveling and spending time with close friends.
He later married Susan Biehl-Peterson on June 4, 2010 in East Moline, Bill and Sue traveled
frequently and took pleasure in family.
Bill worked at Farmall while attending and graduating from Augustana College, majoring in mathematics. He spent more than 25 years employed by IBM in Moline as a systems engineer. Bill did similar work as a consultant for Sedona Technologies until 2009.
He loved spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. He also enjoyed golfing with his
brothers, and gardening. Bill enjoyed the Road Scholar program, he bicycled through Pennsylvania, the Black Hills and parts of Missouri. Through Road Scholars he also canoed the boundary waters in Minnesota and white water rafting on the Delaware River.
Survivors include his wife, Susan; children, Rod (Allyson) Leatherman, Rock Island, Beth (Dave) Newberry,
Rock Island, Douglas (Dana) Leatherman, Carver, MN; step daughters, Christine Peterson, Denver, CO.,
Beth Peterson, Hailey, ID.; grandchildren, Kayla (Eric) Skinner, Kristin (Josh) Deblieck, Andrew, Mackenzie and Zach Leatherman, Tacy Blaser, Mitchell and Mary Francis, Claire, Maggie, Andrew, Len, and Kristen Newberry, Lucinda and
Nora Leatherman; step grandchildren, Shelby and Aidan Green; great grandchildren, Owen, Ian, Alex,
Jake, Willow, Jason; brother, Larry Leatherman, Rock Island; sister in law, Joyce Leatherman, Davenport;
sister in law, Judy (Al) Day, Abilene, KS and Tom (Diane) Biehl, East Moline.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Bonnie, his parents and brothers, Warren and Lamont Leatherman.
The entire Leatherman family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and hospital staff who cared for Bill through his illness. We especially thank Dr. Constantinou, his staff, the staff at Unity Point and Genesis Hospice especially Rob. We also thank friends and family for their prayers and support.