William Gregory Dearhammer

William G. Dearhammer of Arlington Heights and Palatine William (Bill) Dearhammer Jr. passed away on January 29, 2026. He was born June 8, 1934, the second of three children of William and Mary (nee Kadjan) Dearhammer. His career was in the Business to Business Credit field, including 31 years with The First National Bank of Chicago.

In addition to his career at The First National Bank of Chicago, Bill was a member of and later served as President of the Chicago-Midwest Credit Management Association (CMCMA - now known as NACM Connect) for 11 years. In 2018, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from NACM Connect. Following CMCMA were 24 years as an Accounts Receivable Specialist with Paladin and the Chicago office of Thompson Coburn LLP, the latter a law firm headquartered in St. Louis.

Bill served as a member and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kenneth Young Center, a community mental health organization, a member and Director of the National Association of Credit Management, and a member and Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Chapter of Robert Morris Associates (RMA), a national association of bank loan and credit officers. In 1992, he was the recipient of the Byron O’Connor Memorial Award “in recognition of his achievements in advancing the state of the art of commercial banking through years of service to RMA”. Bill was a frequent speaker and author on credit related topics, including three monographs published by RMA.

Other activities included a number of years’ service as Executive Secretary for the Business Executives Association (BEA) and Secretary-Treasurer of the Association of Credit Executives (ACE), a position he held until his retirement in 2018.

Bill graduated from De Paul Academy in 1952, De Paul University in 1958 and received an MBA, also from De Paul, in 1975.

Bill was a long-time member of St. James Catholic Church in Arlington Heights, a member of the Holy Name Society of St. Cornelius Catholic Church in Chicago, a member of the Old Irving Park Association in Chicago, the Arlington Heights Historical Society and a member of the Lake Redstone Property Owners Association in Wisconsin.

He served in the U. S. Army from 1954-56, stationed in Panama. He enjoyed sports and captained many championship teams in softball, football and volleyball. The volleyball team participated in National Senior Olympic Games and won several medals. In his day, he was a decent golfer and enjoyed hiking and river rafting in the Grand Canyon and other national parks.

Bill had a long life (91 ½ years!), and his last few years were challenging with health and mobility issues. Through all of it, he was a positive person and would always offer a smile and greet people with his trademark “How DO you do?”. Even at 91 years old, he was able to charm most nurses and caretakers.

Bill was a well-read and interesting person, great conversationalist, and was quick with a corny joke or sly comment. Many of his jokes had been passed down from his father and will continue to be passed down by his children and grandchildren. When a medical professional asked if he knew his birthday, he matter-of-factly said, “yes”. That usually left the medical professional wondering why he answered that way, until they realized that he answered their question perfectly.

He is survived by his brother, Jack, ex-wife, Carole Covill, three children, Gregg (Lesley), Joan (Dan) Rogers and Patti (Chuck) Pomerenke, 8 grandchildren, Joe, Jason and his girlfriend Sara, Terri and her husband Brad, Rob and his girlfriend Christen, Dana and her fiancé Kurtis, Artie and their significant other Berto, Steve, Pam and her husband, Mauricio, and 5 great-grandchildren, Ava, Mateo, Emilio, Maddox, and Sam.

Bill is predeceased by his parents and by his sister, Alice (Ray) Pusczan and many dear friends.

Visitation will be on Saturday, February 14, 2026, from 9:00 AM to

10:00 AM at St. Colette Church, 3900 Meadows Dr. Rolling Meadows, IL 60008.

The funeral mass will follow at 10:00 AM at church.

Following Mass, entombment will be at All Saints Cemetery on the west side of River Road at Central, Des Plaines, IL.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill’s memory to Avenues to Independence, 515 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068.

Condolences can be given and further information is available at www.glueckertfuneralhome.com or 847-253-0168.