Willard Chadwick "Bill" Packard was the son of Henry Rushmore Packard and Zora Terresa Miller. Bill grew up in Leslie, Onondaga, and Detroit, Michigan; he was the youngest of six children, with four older brothers and one older sister. He attended school up to at least 9th grade in Leslie and Onondaga, and he later attended Ford Motor Company's Engineer Training Program at Michigan State University. By the late 1930s Bill was living in Detroit where he met his future wife, Carol Kriss, who was working at a soda fountain in the city.
Bill and Carol celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991 with a vibrant party at the Holiday Inn in Grayling, Michigan, with many friends and family in attendance. After raising their four children (two boys and two girls) in Detroit and Southfield, Bill and Carol moved north to Grayling and later to Mio, Michigan. In the 1970s, they began splitting their time between and Sarasota, Florida, and Michigan, relocating permanently to Vero Beach, Florida, in the late 1980s.
An outgoing, confident, and boisterous individual, Bill was known for being the life of the party. He and his wife owned several businesses over the years including the Alpine Motel in Mio, Packard Electric Company in Detroit, and Eagle Reality in Grayling. Entrepreneurship gave Bill the ability to schedule his work around his life, allowing him opportunities to partake in numerous recreational pursuits. In his leisure time, Bill enjoyed getting his pilot's license, riding horses, and taking on various projects such as the restoration of an old farmhouse. He was a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 59, the Lion's Club of Detroit, and he was a flier for the Civil Air Patrol in Grayling.
Family vacations were essential part of Bill's life. Locations for these frequent excursions included a cottage on Pleasant Lake in Rives Junction, Michigan, and later a cabin on the Au Sable River in Grayling, Michigan, named "Chinwhisker" which was particularly beloved by Bill's children.
Although he passed away in Florida, Michigan was his true home, and Bill's ashes were interred there after his wife's passing in 2003. Bill is buried in the Leslie Woodlawn Cemetery next to his mother, Zora, and her second husband, Morley Tanner. FYI: In the Woodlawn Cemetery record book, his name is listed as Willard C. Packer.
Bill and Carol celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991 with a vibrant party at the Holiday Inn in Grayling, Michigan, with many friends and family in attendance. After raising their four children (two boys and two girls) in Detroit and Southfield, Bill and Carol moved north to Grayling and later to Mio, Michigan. In the 1970s, they began splitting their time between and Sarasota, Florida, and Michigan, relocating permanently to Vero Beach, Florida, in the late 1980s.
An outgoing, confident, and boisterous individual, Bill was known for being the life of the party. He and his wife owned several businesses over the years including the Alpine Motel in Mio, Packard Electric Company in Detroit, and Eagle Reality in Grayling. Entrepreneurship gave Bill the ability to schedule his work around his life, allowing him opportunities to partake in numerous recreational pursuits. In his leisure time, Bill enjoyed getting his pilot's license, riding horses, and taking on various projects such as the restoration of an old farmhouse. He was a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 59, the Lion's Club of Detroit, and he was a flier for the Civil Air Patrol in Grayling.
Family vacations were essential part of Bill's life. Locations for these frequent excursions included a cottage on Pleasant Lake in Rives Junction, Michigan, and later a cabin on the Au Sable River in Grayling, Michigan, named "Chinwhisker" which was particularly beloved by Bill's children.
Although he passed away in Florida, Michigan was his true home, and Bill's ashes were interred there after his wife's passing in 2003. Bill is buried in the Leslie Woodlawn Cemetery next to his mother, Zora, and her second husband, Morley Tanner. FYI: In the Woodlawn Cemetery record book, his name is listed as Willard C. Packer.
Willard Chadwick "Bill" Packard was the son of Henry Rushmore Packard and Zora Terresa Miller. Bill grew up in Leslie, Onondaga, and Detroit, Michigan; he was the youngest of six children, with four older brothers and one older sister. He attended school up to at least 9th grade in Leslie and Onondaga, and he later attended Ford Motor Company's Engineer Training Program at Michigan State University. By the late 1930s Bill was living in Detroit where he met his future wife, Carol Kriss, who was working at a soda fountain in the city.
Bill and Carol celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991 with a vibrant party at the Holiday Inn in Grayling, Michigan, with many friends and family in attendance. After raising their four children (two boys and two girls) in Detroit and Southfield, Bill and Carol moved north to Grayling and later to Mio, Michigan. In the 1970s, they began splitting their time between and Sarasota, Florida, and Michigan, relocating permanently to Vero Beach, Florida, in the late 1980s.
An outgoing, confident, and boisterous individual, Bill was known for being the life of the party. He and his wife owned several businesses over the years including the Alpine Motel in Mio, Packard Electric Company in Detroit, and Eagle Reality in Grayling. Entrepreneurship gave Bill the ability to schedule his work around his life, allowing him opportunities to partake in numerous recreational pursuits. In his leisure time, Bill enjoyed getting his pilot's license, riding horses, and taking on various projects such as the restoration of an old farmhouse. He was a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 59, the Lion's Club of Detroit, and he was a flier for the Civil Air Patrol in Grayling.
Family vacations were essential part of Bill's life. Locations for these frequent excursions included a cottage on Pleasant Lake in Rives Junction, Michigan, and later a cabin on the Au Sable River in Grayling, Michigan, named "Chinwhisker" which was particularly beloved by Bill's children.
Although he passed away in Florida, Michigan was his true home, and Bill's ashes were interred there after his wife's passing in 2003. Bill is buried in the Leslie Woodlawn Cemetery next to his mother, Zora, and her second husband, Morley Tanner. FYI: In the Woodlawn Cemetery record book, his name is listed as Willard C. Packer.
Bill and Carol celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991 with a vibrant party at the Holiday Inn in Grayling, Michigan, with many friends and family in attendance. After raising their four children (two boys and two girls) in Detroit and Southfield, Bill and Carol moved north to Grayling and later to Mio, Michigan. In the 1970s, they began splitting their time between and Sarasota, Florida, and Michigan, relocating permanently to Vero Beach, Florida, in the late 1980s.
An outgoing, confident, and boisterous individual, Bill was known for being the life of the party. He and his wife owned several businesses over the years including the Alpine Motel in Mio, Packard Electric Company in Detroit, and Eagle Reality in Grayling. Entrepreneurship gave Bill the ability to schedule his work around his life, allowing him opportunities to partake in numerous recreational pursuits. In his leisure time, Bill enjoyed getting his pilot's license, riding horses, and taking on various projects such as the restoration of an old farmhouse. He was a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 59, the Lion's Club of Detroit, and he was a flier for the Civil Air Patrol in Grayling.
Family vacations were essential part of Bill's life. Locations for these frequent excursions included a cottage on Pleasant Lake in Rives Junction, Michigan, and later a cabin on the Au Sable River in Grayling, Michigan, named "Chinwhisker" which was particularly beloved by Bill's children.
Although he passed away in Florida, Michigan was his true home, and Bill's ashes were interred there after his wife's passing in 2003. Bill is buried in the Leslie Woodlawn Cemetery next to his mother, Zora, and her second husband, Morley Tanner. FYI: In the Woodlawn Cemetery record book, his name is listed as Willard C. Packer.
Gravesite Details
Cremated at time of death; remains buried in Woodlawn Cemetery after wife's death.
