William Louis Guzzetti

William L. Guzzetti was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 22, 1943 to his parents, Louis and Lillian (Malinovsky) Guzzetti. He was a loving son to his Mother, calling her every night for the last six years of her life as she was living alone along with helping support her. He is survived by his brother Robert J. Miksovsky and had a sister, the late Barbara Guzzetti. He was the second eldest of five Grandchildren of his maternal Grandparents, Rudolf and Gertrude Malinovsky, the other cousins being Michael Malinovsky (deceased), Donald Malinovsky (deceased), Susan Malinovsky, and Robert Miksovsky.

He attended Blue Island HS in Illinois and at the age of 17 (he skipped second grade), was the Valedictorian of his Class of 1960.

He lettered in 3 sports; Football, Basketball, and Baseball, making the Chicago Baseball All Stars and played in Wrigley Field. He also had the opportunity to Guard Jerry Colangelo in Basketball.

He had choices after High School; Dartmouth, Harvard, and drafted by the Chicago White Sox. He chose Harvard where he majored in History and obtained his BS. At Harvard he played Baseball and Basketball. One of his teammates in Basketball was a 6'11" player named Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park.

After Harvard, he eventually was drafted into the Army and after Boot Camp, went into Officer's Candidate School (OCS) and Graduated as a Second Lieutenant. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam and was Honorably Discharged as a Captain. He did not talk much his times in Vietnam.

He enrolled in Florida Law School and graduated second in his class, obtaining a JD. He took a job with Mcquire, Voorhis, and Wells in Orlando. After a couple of years, he joined Saxon Oil Company in Orlando as their Corporate Attorney and moved with them to Dallas in 1978. Saxon Oil Company was eventually restructured underneath the The Hallwood Group and he continued as their Corporate Attorney until he was promoted to President in the late 1980's to 2020 covering many of the entities through his years with the Company until his Retirement in 2022. Through his expert deal makings, he made millions of dollars for many people.

Bill was a lawyer and an oil industry executive. He was a member of the Florida Bar (chairman out of state practitioners committee 1986-1987, chairman investment committee since 1988, board governors since 1987) and the Texas Bar Associations, Order of Coif

Around September/October of 2020, he began showing signs of Dementia. Struggling for 5 months, he was finally diagnosed in the VA Hospital with Frontal Lobe Dementia and some Paranoia. He went into Assisted Living in February 2021 and transferred to a Memory Care Building in May 2024.

Bill was a single man all his life although having many, many various types of friends. He was humble, not flaunting his power and wealth. You would never know that by looking at him. He shared his knowledge and experience with many of his friends and families which assisted them in becoming successful. He was gracious with his finances continually helping his family and friends in need. He enjoyed nice cars, usually Mercedes and his Hobbies included watching sports, attending Lone Star Racetrack every weekend with his friends, occasionally visiting Casino's and having his mother's passion of Bingo. We called her "Bingo Lil"! Bingo Lil and Bingo Bill can now play Bingo together again.

Bill was a very strong-minded person. For example, when he weighed 325 pounds, he had a stroke. He then changed his lifestyle, his diet, woke up at 4:30 am to work out and in about a year or so, decreased his weight to 215 pounds! About a year after Mom passed away, went to Holy Trinity Church and under their Pastor, Father Tony, again became a practicing Catholic, even becoming a Eucharistic Minister and receiving an Award from the Bishop of Dallas. He inspired his brother to also become a Eucharistic Minister.

We will end with this as relayed by his good friend and colleague, John Tuthill:

"After Bill attended church and received Communion, we spoke about this event and I (John) mentioned that I had even tried to do the devotional act of "Nine First Fridays." Guz looked at me with smile and said, "I have never completed it either and I will do it if you will go with me for the next nine months to complete that devotion." I did go and we did complete that devotion.

This devotional is part of the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary. It is the 12th and last Promise as below:

12: In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

Bill is where he should be, in the Hands of God, no more pain, no more suffering. We all have great memories of Bill. Let's keep those in our hearts, celebrate his life, and continue on with our lives!

God Bless You, Bill! Rest in Peace in the loving arms of Jesus!

In Lieu of Flowers, in keeping with Bill’s generous spirit and his lifelong concern for the well-being of others, the family invites those who wish to honor his memory to consider making a donation to one of the following organizations that reflect causes close to his heart:

Veterans Affairs

https://www.cdceportal.va.gov/donate_online/

Dementia Society

https://dementiasociety.charityproud.org/donate

St. Jude's Children's Hospital

https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html