Bill was the son of the late Dr. Robert & Odessa Harris of Peoria. He married the love of his life, Kimberly McCoy, on July 12, 1993 at Glasford Baptist Church. She survives.
Also surviving are six children; Zachary (Layne) Harris of Coralville, Iowa, Meghan (Gokhan) Beler of Peoria, Tyler Harris of Peoria, Kyle ( Amy) Harris of Aurora, Colorado, Natalee Roseboom of Glasford and Kristine (Nathan) Clark of Madison, Alabama and seven grandchildren, Rowan and Ainsley Harris, Kaleb, Gabriel, Isabella and Eli Clark and Georgia DeMaster, brothers Mike Harris of Chicago, Scott (Emily) Harris of Metamora & sisters Barb (Bruce) Bietz and Kathy Harris of Mapleton, brother and sister- in- law Kevin and Cindie McCoy and mother- in- law Betty McCoy all of Glasford.
In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his father- in –law, Bill McCoy and brother- in -law Chris McCoy.
He was of the Baptist faith and was a member of the Glasford Baptist Church where he served as a Trustee and was on the Missions Team. Bill attended and played football at Washington University in St. Louis, MO his freshman and sophomore year. He transferred to and graduated from Illinois State University with high honors in 1974 and the University of Illinois at Chicago with his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1978. He started practicing dentistry in 1978 and took over his dad’s practice on August 4, 1978 in the Lehman Building in downtown Peoria. He moved his practice to North Street and bought out retiring dentist Dr. Bell and Dr. Burell opening his second floor office on Knoxville Ave. To accommodate his elderly and disabled patients, he moved directly across the street to an office on street level. He was bought out by Heartland Dental Care in 1997 and tried retirement for a while in 2011. That didn’t work out well with him, so he opened his own practice again in Mt Hawley Plaza in 2013. At age 66 he sold to Elite Dental Partners in January 2019 and worked for them the past five months to get his patients adjusted to the new dentists as he planned to retire for good July 15, 2019. Just shy of 41 years.
Bills favorite place to go was their vacation home in Marco Island, Florida. He loved everything about it.
Bill loved sports and was a loyal Chicago Fan with his favorite teams being the White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks. He was an avid collector of sports memorabilia.
A visitation will be Monday, June 10, 2019 from 4 to 7 pm and then a Celebration of Life Service will be at 10 on Tuesday June 11, 2019 all at the Glasford Baptist Church. Davison-Fulton Woolsey Funeral home in Pekin is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials may be made to the Peoria Rescue Ministries or Glasford Baptist Church. Words of comfort can be shared with the family at www.davisonfultonwoolsey.com.
