William Walter Kucharek Jr.

William W. Kucharek Jr., age 64, of Castle Pines, CO passed away on Tuesday, December 13, 2016. He was born on August 26, 1952 in Johnson City, New York, the son of William and Elizabeth Kucharek. He is survived by his mother, Betty, and his wife of 41 years, Rhea Hiemstra. He also leaves his children, Alicia Kucharek, Renee and Chris Kemmesat, his grandchildren, Emerson Kucharek and Connor Kemmesat, his brother, Mark Kucharek (Robin), his sister, Kathryn Kucharek (George Doody), and several nieces, nephews, aunts and cousins.

Bill grew up in Endwell, New York, and graduated from Union-Endicott High School in 1970 and SUNY at Delhi in 1974, where he met his wife, Rhea. After marrying on June 14, 1975, they lived in New Windsor, NY, until they moved to Ithaca, NY, where Bill worked as a food service manager at SUNY at Cortland. They moved to Rochester, NY, in 1977, where Bill attended and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology. After graduating in 1979 he took a position as Assistant Food Service Manager at Pasadena-Bayshore Hospital in Pasadena, TX. In 1982 Bill and Rhea left Houston to move to Aurora, Colorado, where Bill worked as Assistant Director of Food Services at Rose Medical Center from 1982-1991. He took the position of Purchasing Agent at Rose in 1991, and in 2002 he was transferred to HealthONE/HCA Supply Chain Services. In 2005 Bill and Rhea moved to Castle Pines, CO and Bill transferred to Sky Ridge Hospital where he retired in 2015.

Bill very much loved his two daughters, Alicia and Renee. He enjoyed attending sporting events at Gateway High School where they attended school. He also loved to visit them in Fort Collins when they attended Colorado State University. He was so happy when his granddaughter, Emerson, was born in 2013, and later on his grandson, Connor, in 2015.

Bill’s hobbies included bowling, bike riding, golfing, cross-country skiing and hiking. He loved the outdoors, and he often spent weekends in Winter Park either skiing or mountain biking. He also loved his dogs. Jeremy, his cocker spaniel traveled to Texas and then to Colorado with him. Later, Kelsy, a golden retriever, and Roxy, a cocker spaniel, joined the family. Sadie, also a golden retriever, was Bill’s constant companion for the past 11 years.

Bill also loved to travel with his wife. He particularly loved spending vacations on the California coast or the Napa wine valley. Recently, he would travel often to Arizona, where his daughter, Renee, and son-in-law, Chris, lived.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, December 16 at New Hope Presbyterian Church, 3737 New Hope Way, Castle Rock, CO. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Heart Association and the Denver Dumb Friends League.

Memorial donations can be made in his honor to American Heart Association, 1777 S. Harrison St., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80210 online: www.heart.org or Dumb Friends League, 4556 Castleton Ct, Castle Rock, CO 80109 online: www.ddfl.org .