William Russell "Bill" Ganz

William Russell Ganz of Pineville, NC died July 21, 2012 surrounded by his family at Levine & Dickson Hospice House in Huntersville, North Carolina. He was 91 years old. Bill was born in Minong, Wisconsin, and grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, where he graduated from Rochester High School and attended Rochester Jr. College. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and was a B-25 pilot in WWII. His plane was shot down over Italy and he spent 16 months at a POW camp in northern Germany after he was captured. In 1949, Bill married Bettye Jean Miley. He worked for Northwest Airlines and was based in Seattle, Washington, and Shemya, Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands, where he was Station Manager for Northwest. Bill left Northwest and went on to own and operate a small business in North Dakota, where he was also active in the Civil Air Patrol. In 1962 the family moved to Hopkins, Minnesota, where Bill worked for and retired from Land O' Lakes (Bridgeman's) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bill and Bettye spent the majority of their retirement years in Ft. Pierce, Florida, especially enjoying the orange and grapefruit trees in their yard. They moved to the Charlotte area in 2005. Bill was preceded in death by five brothers and two sisters. His immediate family includes his loving wife of 63 years, Bettye, son Stephen also of Pineville, North Carolina, daughter Carolyn (Jim Olsen) of Roseville, Minnesota, daughter Sally of Charlotte, North Carolina, brother Henry of Eyota, Minnesota, and 25 nieces and nephews. ***The family requests memorial contributions go to The Wounded Warrior Project (www.WoundedWarriorProject.org) or the American Red Cross (www.redcross.org). Please refer to the left column and select "Place A Donation' for further information. -

Service Information

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 1:00pm, Living Savior Lutheran Church

Interment Details

Pending