William F. Plattenberger

Visitation

Nov 20, 2020 to Nov 21, 2020

Biography

William F. Plattenberger age 97 went home to his Heavenly Father on November 16, 2020 where he joined his son, Bruce. He is survived by his wife Shirley of 73 years, two sons Tom and John; three grandsons Jacob, Matthew and Zackery; and three great-grandsons Jack, William and Jacob. Visitation Friday 4:00-8:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am until time of Funeral, 11:00 am at The Lutheran Church of St. Luke, 410 S. Rush Street, Itasca. Interment St. Luke Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Luke Lutheran Church. Arrangements entrusted to The Oaks Funeral Home. 630-250-8588 or www.oaksfh.com Bill went to work for the Milwaukee Railroad in his hometown of Savanna, Il upon graduation from high school and spent the following forty-five years in the railroad industry. His career was interrupted by three years of military service, having served in the Army Transportation Corp, operating the railroads in The European Theater of Operation (France, Germany and Belgium) during WW II. He retired in 1985 as Assistant Vice President Operations- General Manager of the Milwaukee Railroad’s 10,000 mile system. Bill served on the ICC’s National Defense Executive Reserves, The Governor’s Emergency Planning Board for the state of Montana and The Montana State Prison Citizens Advisory Committee. Bill was a member of the General Managers Association of Kansas City and a past president of the General Managers Association of Chicago. In addition to his duties as General Manager, he served on the Board of Directors of The Des Moines Union Railroad, the Washington Idaho and Montana Railroad, the St. Paul Union Depot Company, the Minnesota Transfer Railway, the Minneapolis Eastern Railroad and was president and Board Chairman of the Davenport, Moline and Rock Island Railroad at the time of his retirement. His education included studies at the Universities of Wisconsin, Michigan, Northwestern and Chicago but he was most proud of the three and only, college credit hours he earned at The College of DuPage in a computer science program at the age of 75. Upon retirement Bill organized a transportation-consulting firm and was vice president of The Oxford Group engaged in the purchasing, rebuilding, and leasing railroad locomotives. Bills community service included five years on Itasca’s Zoning Board of Appeals, five years as a Village Trustee, and as Itasca’s representative on the board of directors of Northwest Suburban Mass Transit District. He was a lifelong member of The Lutheran Church. After moving to Itasca in 1973 he served the Lutheran Church of St. Luke Chairman of the Board of Elders and President of the Congregation. He was elected by the Northern Illinois District to serve as a lay representative on the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s reconciliation board where he served throughout the Synod as a mediator and arbitrator of church-related disputes for eight years. In his leisure time, Bill pursued his love of music as an instrumentalist, playing the french horn in school and civic bands and as a choir member. He was a member of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago for nearly 30 years where he served as Base II Section Leader, and two terms as president.