William Bill Forbes Uber Jr.

Bill was born in Paterson, New Jersey and grew up with his parents, William and Helen, and his sister, Jacqueline, in Glen Rock, New Jersey. He attended Xavier High School in New York City. Bill loved the Jesuits. AMDG!

From Xavier he headed to Washington, D.C. to The Catholic University of America (CUA) graduating in 1958 with a degree in architectural engineering. He was a four-year starting point guard for the CUA Cardinals, number 18, two-time team captain, scored over 700 points and led the team in assists all four years. He was inducted into the CUA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. His four-year teammate, Tom McKavitt, married Bill’s sister, Jackie in 1959. Following college, he attended the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. and served four years in the Civil Engineer Corps of the Navy. “Seabees can do!” He served in Spain and was also stationed at Guatanamo Bay, Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis. He was honorably discharged as a lieutenant in 1963.

On a holiday leave home from Seville, Spain in 1962, he was set up on a blind date by his sister and met the beautiful and sweet Virginia “Ginny” McAleer. They married in May, 1963 and had five children and seven grandchildren in their 49 years of marriage.

Following the Navy, Bill put the G.I. Bill to good use and earned a masters in business administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, N.J. However, the corporate world and working for The Man were not for him. So while managing commercial construction projects by day and taking classes by night for four years at Seton Hall University Law School in Newark, he completed his J.D. in 1972.

Following his law school graduation, Bill and Ginny moved with their family to Dunedin, Florida. Bill started his law practice, first with partners in Clearwater and then his solo practice in Dunedin. Bill practiced law for 40 years, specializing in estate law and what is now called elder law. His care of elderly clients frequently included bringing them Communion, taking them to a ball game, or helping them move into a nursing home. He was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Dunedin, Florida for 38 years. Bill served as parish council president, lector, Eucharistic minister, brought new members into the church through RCIA, and with Ginny helped with marriage preparation classes. Up till his death, he organized an annual Men’s Retreat in Tampa. Jesuit-led, of course. In addition to attending his own children’s many athletic events, he was an assistant boys basketball coach at Clearwater Central Catholic HS for five years (1987-1992), helping the Marauders to the 2A Florida State Championship in 1987.

In 2002, Ginny and Bill retired for half the year to Stowe, Vermont where they met wonderful new friends and enjoyed the Green Mountains from their deck. After Ginny was diagnosed with ALS in 2009, they moved to Bloomington, Indiana in November, 2010. Ginny’s decline was difficult, and Bill managed her care as a fierce advocate. Bill was a member of St. Paul Catholic Center where he participated in prayer and bible study groups, bereavement support, Men2Men, and may have occasionally advised his new Dominican friends on homily content. These last two years, he enjoyed the companionship of Debra Denning with whom he traveled, attended Jacobs School of Music concerts and followed Hoosier basketball.

His decline in January, 2016 was rapid and sudden. After three days at IU Health Bloomington Hospital and a diagnosis of aggressive pancreatic cancer, he died peacefully at IU Health Hospice House. He received beautiful care from the staff at both facilities and from his wonderful doctors- Tom Hrisomalos, Gary Gettelfinger, Souheil Haddad, and Mark Dayton.

Bill was one in a million. Funny, generous, complex, charming, smart, honest, faith-filled. An overall piece of work. He was a diehard fan of the Yankees, the Fighting Irish, the Green Bay Packers, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Chicago Black Hawks, and IU Basketball. Mostly he was a fan of his family and is enjoying a big reunion in heaven.

He is survived by his daughters, Jennifer Uber Kincaid, Elizabeth Uber, Catherine Uber Racek; his sons-in-law, Jay Kincaid and Jonathan Racek; his seven grandchildren, Josephine, Liam, Frances, Cecelia, and Jude Kincaid and Alice and Adelaide Racek; his sister and brother-in-law, Jacqueline and Thomas McKavitt; his in-laws, Ginny’s siblings, George and Joanne McAleer, James and Sandee McAleer, Mary Jo and Dave Ostrowski, and Mary Kathryne Ryan; and many wonderful nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sons, Peter Joseph, who died at birth, and William Francis Xavier, who died at age 22 in 2002 and whom he missed tremendously; and his brother-in-law, Thomas Maloney.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Indiana University Health Hospice House (care of IU Foundation, PO Box 1149, Bloomington, IN 47402 or online) or St. Paul Catholic Center (1413 E. 17th St., Bloomington, IN 47408 or online).

Visitation will be Monday, Feb. 1st from 5-8 pm at St. Paul Catholic Center and a funeral Mass will be on Tuesday, Feb. 2nd at 10 am at St. Paul Catholic Center. Burial will be on Friday, Feb. 5th at 10 am at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida. Funeral arrangements will be handled by Day & Deremiah-Frye Funeral Home in Bloomington, IN

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.DayDeremiahFrye.com