William Joseph Slesk

Bill Slesk, loved deeply by family and friends, has gone home to live with his Heavenly Father.  Bill left surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, May 2, 2015.  He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Janet; Connie (Frank) Bennum, Jill (Jim) Wyatt, Billy (Jamie) Slesk, Bev (Dennis) Mallahan, Barb (Mike) Lee, Steve (Nancy) Slesk, Tim (Jill) Slesk.  Grandchildren: Bob, Tanya, Kristen, Jenny, Jeff, Nick, Ashley, Eli, Katy, Natasha, Emily, Tait, Tiffany, Trisha, Taylor, Kendra, Jordan, Tyler, Zach, Jake, Josh, Jackson, Joey, and 28 great grandchildren.

 Bill was a devoted family man, and eternally devoted to Janet.   His commitment to family brought him the most happiness.  Bill was a people person, and all who knew him grew to love his outgoing personality.  He was a man with many strengths and would do anything for anybody.

 William Joseph Slesk was born on December 2, 1926 to Jack and Florence Slesk, at his grandmother‘s home in Seattle, Washington.  He attended Lincoln High School and was a proud Lincoln Lynx (“give ‘em the ax”).  Basketball and baseball were sports in which he excelled.  Many stories were shared by Bill, but particularly about the time he scored 33 points in one game.  A newspaper headline read “Slesk leads Lincoln to victory over Kuays”.

In August of 1944 Bill chose to join the United States Navy Seabees at the young age of 17.  He served in the South Pacific, at New Habrides, Wake Island, and Kwajalein.  After 22 months of service to our country, he was discharged in June of 1946.  After the service Bill attended Seattle University for 1 1/2 years and worked for the Seattle Times newspaper.  In 1952, while working for Local Loan he met Janet Collins who worked in the same building.  

Janet and Bill were married on October 1st, 1953 in Seattle, Washington.  Meeting Janet changed the course of his life for the better.  Janet introduced Bill to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which brought great purpose to his life.  Bill and Janet moved to Wenatchee, Washington where they were very involved with their church family.  Their first child, Connie was born there.  While in Wenatchee, Bill decided he would like to further his education.   The couple moved to Seattle, Washington where Bill attended the University of Washington and graduated in 1958 with a degree in Business Administration.  Four children were born in Seattle, Jill, Billy, Bev, and Barb.  Bill took a job with Tidewater Oil Company and was transferred to Bellingham, Washington where Steven and Tim were born.  Bellingham became the family home for the remainder of his life.

With his business degree, in 1964 Bill began his own agency with State Farm Insurance.  Bill built a very successful business.  After working for State Farm Insurance for 35 years, he retired in 1999.  Throughout Bill and Janet’s life together they traveled to many places from Europe to Hawaii. Camping in their motor home brought them so much happiness and created fun family memories.

 Bill’s favorite things to do in life were attending all of his children’s/grandchildren’s sporting events which were many.  Dad/grandpa was everyone’s #1 fan.  He also loved teaching Sunday School at church.  He loved snow skiing, racket ball, attending UW football games, and camping.  Dad said in his journal, “Our family favorite was Disneyland, a place where we have had all our kids.  It seems to be an old landmark for us.” His desire after retirement was to work more on genealogy.

 Bill was an exceptional man, and to quote from his journal, “I am the luckiest man in the world to have this great family”.

 Memorial donations may be made in Bill Slesk’s name to:

Whatcom Hospice 2806 Douglas Ave Bellingham, WA   98225    

 The Slesk family would like to give a special thank you to:

Marcy Landreth, Bill’s caregiver for 4 years

Dr. Sperry and Jill

Whatcom Hospice, especially Terah & Eden

 A memorial service will be held Friday, May 8th at 2:00 p.m. at the LDS Church at 5800 Northwest, in Ferndale.