William Louis Syers, 85, a lifelong resident and true native son of Iowa passed away on Sept. 22, 2015 while in hospice care.

Funeral services are 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, 2015 at St. James Lutheran Church, Bettendorf. Burial is at the National Cemetery, Rock Island Arsenal, where military honors will be presented by Moline American Legion Post 246. Visitation is 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, Rock Island. Memorials may be made to the Bettendorf Public Library Foundation or Living Lands and Water.

His life was built around the twin pillars of a 53 year marriage to Shirley (Wratten) Syers and the successful operation of a family owned business still known as the Davenport Audiology and Hearing Aid Center . His only significant absence from Iowa came as an Army draftee during the Korean War. After training in Georgia, he served as a medical technician in Texas and Virginia and emerged from the experience with the first of five children. Bill and Shirley resided for over 35 years at a modest home located on Holmes Street in Bettendorf where they raised Chryss (Syers) Hartman of Davenport, Iowa, Kim (Syers) Callanan of Southlake, Texas, Bill Syers of Fairfax, Virginia, Mark Syers of Superior, Colorado, and David Syers of St. Paul, Minnesota. Bill found it immensely rewarding to love, play, and visit with 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Bill and Shirley came to the Quad Cities from their native Cedar Rapids in 1959 to join Bill's father in the hearing aid business. Eventually, Bill not only ran the business but also served in elective positions in both the Iowa and National Hearing Aid Dealers Associations. The constantly traveling salesman who visited public schools and senior centers became a force for change in Des Moines where he pursued legislation to properly license and certify his fellow hearing aid practitioners. He was fortunate to turn the business over to his son-in-law Mike Hartman. After Shirley's death in 2005, Bill became an amiable denizen of the Palmer Hills Independent Living Center near Bettendorf Senior High School and treasured the friendship of Mar Ketcham. Bill was known for an innately pleasant disposition which was further honed by a lifetime of finding ways to raise a challenging brood while making a small business survive in an ever changing business environment. Undaunted success is precisely the right way to describe a lifetime of persevering through some of life's most significant milestones like succeeding at marriage, serving our country, leaving a business legacy, and being a role model to assist his children in pursuit of the very same path in their own lives.

Online condolences may be left at wheelanpressly.com.