William John Risch, 84, of Burnsville, MN, passed away in the Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, on Wednesday morning, April 17, 2024.
Bill was born in Crookston on January 6, 1940, the only child of Edward and Pauline (Weiderholt) Risch. He was baptized and confirmed in the United Presbyterian Church, educated in Crookston schools, and graduated from Central High School with the Class of 1958. Bill went on to attend the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks where he earned a Bachelors Degree while majoring in Mathematics. Next came enlistment in the US Air Force, serving at several Air Bases throughout the country and abroad. Capt. William Risch received an honorable discharge from the Air Force after proudly serving his country for 11 years.
While living in the Twin Cities, primarily in Burnsville, Bill was employed by Control Data, specializing in computer analysis. Following the closure of the Company in the 1980’s Bill branched out on his own, and until his retirement provided computer system analysis for several loyal business accounts throughout the metropolitan area.
Bill was an active member of the Masonic Lodge, Shrine, and Kem Temple. Throughout his life Bill was an avid ham radio operator, enjoying many friendships formed with likeminded operators around the globe. He held a pilot’s license for many years and loved taking friends and family on sport flying hops over Minneapolis-St. Paul and sometimes a bit further. He maintained his passion for flight well into the early 2000’s. In more recent years Bill became very adept at flying gyrocopters, owning quite a few of these drones at the time of his passing. For years Bill enjoyed returning often to Crookston to visit his parents. After their deaths he continued to make the trek north to spend time at his lake cabin and doing lots of fishing
Bill is survived by his cousins: Earl Johnson, Erlene Chloupek, and LaVaun Hinton. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Pauline Risch; cousins, Jackie Welander and Phillip Edd; as well as aunts and uncles.
The funeral service celebrating Bill’s life will be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in the Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home in Crookston with The Rev. Michael Ozaki, officiating. A Masonic Service will be conducted at 1:15 p.m. by Crookston’s Lodge #141 and is open to the public. Visitation will follow until the time of the funeral service. Burial will take place in the Oakdale Cemetery and Military Honors will be provided by the Grand Forks Air Force Base Funeral Honors Team and the Crookston Veterans Council. All services will be livestreamed by going to Bill’s obituary page at www.stenshoelhouske.com.
