William King

william king
William (Bill) Monroe King passed away peacefully with his loving wife at his side on June 1, 2019 at Sanford Palliative Care. For the past five years, Bill battled pancreatic cancer. His positive attitude, along with his strong desire to continue making memories with his family, helped him live well-beyond what was expected with the stage 4 cancer diagnosis. From the nurses to the people who do valet parking, everyone at Roger Maris Cancer Center knew him by first name. His doctor said he has never had a patient live that long with pancreatic cancer. He often joked that he was on his third cancer doctor as his previous two doctors retired while treating him and his goal was to retire the third one. Bill was born to Monroe and Mavis (Swapp) King on June 30, 1948 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He graduated from Fargo Central in 1967 and went on to complete accounting courses at Interstate Business College. In 1970, he started working for Nichelson Oil, where he was late for work the very first day because of a flat tire. This was devastating to a guy who had to be fifteen minutes early for everything, but he went on to be a valued employee for the next 47 years. During the final four years of his career, the company was sold and became Kotaco Fuels. He retired in August of 2017 with a deep appreciation for his time at both Nichelson’s and Kotaco. Even after retiring, he continued to find ways to make Excel spreadsheets for everything and to stay in touch with his many work friends. His work was also his hobby. For many years, he also did the tax reports each month for Lileks Oil and continued this job right up until his most recent hospital stay. In August of 1970, Bill married his high school sweetheart, Mary (Brunelle) King. After almost 49 years of marriage, Bill and Mary continued to inspire others with their dedication and love for each other. They had two daughters, Jennifer and Cherie, and Bill could not have been more proud of them and his sons-in-law, Kevin Schuldheisz and Chad Moody. The family really became complete with the addition of his three precious grandchildren who Bill adored and loved spending time with. Bill had a passion for hunting and fishing. He enjoyed many hunting trips to the Badlands with dear friends. He passed on his love for the outdoors to his grandchildren with family trapshoots and fishing adventures. Bill loved road trips and vacations. As a Disney World fan, he especially enjoyed family vacations to Florida. After his cancer diagnosis, the whole family was blessed with the opportunity to vacation in Florida four additional times which created lasting memories for all. Bill also enjoyed bowling, golfing, eating at buffets (true story!) and had fun at everything he did. Bill’s final days were filled with faith, love, and laughter as he was surrounded by family and dear friends. He used the opportunity to say goodbye; sharing his love for them and reliving memories. Despite the pain and impending outcome, he considered this time to be a precious blessing and described the days as some of the best of his life. His faith, courage, and positivity during this time reminded everyone why he had the strength to continue to LIVE while fighting cancer for so long. He is survived by his wife, Mary (Brunelle) King; two daughters, Jennifer (Kevin) Schuldheisz, and Cherie (Chad) Moody; three grandchildren, which meant the world to him, Marissa and Devin Schuldheisz, Brock Hendrickson; his five sisters, Cindy Wegner, St. Augustine, FL, Sandy Van Erem, Mapleton, Deb Brunsvold, Fargo, Becky (Larry) Wright, West Fargo, and April King, West Fargo; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Monroe and Mavis (Swapp) King. In lieu of flowers, memorials will be presented to the Outdoor Adventure Foundation to sponsor a hunting or fishing adventure for a child with a life threatening illness.

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  1. Bill & Mary and My wife Pat and I have been friends for about 50 years. We met while we were attending Interstate Business college in late 1969. We “clicked” and kinda grew close after that. Our kids grew up together at our almost weekly card games at alternating houses. We did a lot of things together as families in the early years, Camping, Trips to Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Itasca, Valley Fair, etc. After that the kids grew up,…..but we didn’t. We traveled together when ever we could……Horse races in Winnipeg and Dog races in Rapid City, Fishing in Lake Superior out of Duluth, and our annual fall Trips to the North Shore.

    Later, we would plan trips then name them. All 5 of Great Lakes in one trip , The Mount St Helen’s, The Big Bucks Las Vegas where Bill found our he was on the federal DO NOT FLY list (long story), West Coast Hwy 1, LA to San Francisco, Bridges of Madison County, Branson MO., Cancun Mexico……List goes on and on…..our bucket list of trips was not yet finished.

    Bill loved to hunt and Fish. We fished together in Local Lakes, Devils Lake, ND, Lake Superior, Puget Sound, The Mexican Caribbean, the Black hills, etc. He also loved to hunt in the Badlands of North Dakota. We drew Mule Deer tags almost every year and would hunt with our good friends on their ranch in the Badlands for years….last year we drew tags, but he could not make it. Just a month ago he wanted to apply for our 2019 tags.

    When I started my business, Bill helped me by getting the proper computer program and set everything up for me. He did weekly reports and monthly P & L’s for me as well as the annual reports. He was always there when I had questions or needed help.

    Even though Bill was “challenged” with his Cerebral Palsy, that never got in his way. He always figured a way to do one handed what everyone else needed two hands to do, like bowling, trap shooting, hunting, tying hooks on to mono filament line, riding a 4 wheeler, he mastered them all.

    Bill was our Great-lifelong-friend, We will miss him dearly.

    Our Thoughts and Prayers to Mary, Jennifer, Cherie and Families.

  2. Dear Family of Mr. King,
    I am so sorry for your loss. May God’s promise bring you comfort. There will be “a new earth…and He will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore… I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:1-5

  3. I have never loved and respected anyone more than my brother. The courage he showed during his illness, the dedication to his family and his wonderful sense of humor was truly inspiring. I will miss him so much.

  4. How I’ll miss bills smile 😃 the little fellow I babysat while in Minnesota. He was the epitome of love and happiness. Thank you Mary for being such a wonderful wife to Bill.

  5. Mary, Jennifer, Cheri and family, I am so sorry for your loss. He was truly a good man and a Great Brother-in-Law …..God Bless you and your families.

  6. Enjoyed working with you for 40 years. Mary & family, we are so sorry for your loss. God Bless You…

  7. You showed us all how to live life to the fullest. You will be missed. I will miss texting you on our shared BD.

  8. Cathy (Moe) Bergen
    I have a lot of great childhood memories of Bill & his sisters growing up. After high school Bill would travel from Fargo & stop at the Highway Dept. Where I worked & we would go to lunch. I enjoyed our catching up visits so much. I met Mary later & couldn’t have been happier for him. She is great! We cousins lost touch after that. Saw each other once in awhile. I love him & Mary. I will miss him very much. Heaven is very lucky to have him!

  9. So sorry to hear about Bill. He was such a good guy and loved his family so much. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

  10. My deepest sympathy for Bill’s Family on his passing. He and my brother Richard Kirsch were friends in high school and now they will renew their friendship in Heaven . My brother died of stage 4 pancreatic cancer November 2018. We are all in “God’s waiting room”.


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