William "Bill" F. Michael, age 88, of Portage, passed away Wednesday, August 19, 2015. He was born on November 5, 1926 in Fort Wayne, Indiana to the late David and Bertha (nee Zacher) Michael. Bill was married in Hammond, Indiana on October 3, 1945 to Loretta Helm. He graduated from Sheldon High School in Illinois and attended Purdue University in Hammond for two years. He was a W.W II Corpman and proudly served his country in the U.S Navy. He worked as a Manager for Combustion Engineering in East Chicago for 40 yrs. and retired in 1984 . He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Hobart,a member of American Legion Post 260 of Portage, and a member of the Golden Handshake retiree Combustion Engineering. He enjoyed building doll houses, repairing watches and clocks, reading and spending time with his family. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle and friend.
William is survived by his wife, Loretta I (nee Helm) Michael of Portage; two sons, Daniel (Denise) Michael of Hobart and Jon (Debbie) Michael of Chesterton; three daughters, Marsha (Carl) Kobe of Valparaiso, Barbara (Phillip) Holman of Wheatfield and Lori (Randall) Zimnawoda of Chesterton; 26 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.
William is preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Eugene and Robert Michael.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to VNA Horton Hospice of Valparaiso and the First United Methodist Church in Hobart
A funeral service for William will take place Monday, August 24, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. at Rees Funeral Home, Olson Chapel, 5341 Central Avenue, Portage, Indiana 46368. Burial at Calumet Park Cemetery in Merrillville. Visitation will also be held Monday, August 24, 2015 from 10:30 a.m. until the time of service also at Rees Funeral Home, Olson Chapel. (219) 762-3013 or online at reesfuneralhomes.com