William Albert La Plante

Arlington Heights

Educator. Author. World traveler. Talented amateur painter. And especially, devoted husband, father, and grandfather.  

Dr. William Albert La Plante was born in the Immaculate Conception parish in the Germantown area of Philadelphia on April 11, 1930. He attended La Salle College High School, received his B.A. in education from La Salle University, and his EdD from Temple University. After spending two years in the U.S. Army, he married Alice Gervase O’Neill (1930 - 2012), also of Philadelphia, in 1957.

A renowned expert in early childhood literacy, Dr. LaPlante was especially dedicated to helping the underserved. He worked at Job Corps, in Washington D.C. in the Johnson Administration, designing programs to give disadvantaged youths opportunities to improve their reading and writing skills.  

Upon accepting an executive position at Borg Warner in 1967, he moved his growing family to Arlington Heights and became an active parishioner of St. Edna Catholic Church where his wife Alice was music director for four decades. At Borg Warner, he designed the world’s first “teaching machine,” the System 80, which was the precursor of today’s educational software.

Later, at Denoyer Goeppert, he traveled the world designing educational systems for the governments of Brazil, the former Yugoslavia, Egypt, and—his favorite project—the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A lover of jazz and an avid reader, Dr. La Plante was rarely seen at home without his beloved pet parrot, Fred, on his shoulder.

Dr. La Plante is survived by his eight children: Mary La Plante; Alice (David Renton) LaPlante;    Elizabeth (Joe Hanafee) LaPlante; Clare (Joe Clary) La Plante; William(Joanne Hogan) LaPlante Jr.; Catherine (Joe Guin) LaPlante-Guin; Frank (Marie) LaPlante; and Lynn (Michael Allaway) LaPlante Allaway.  

He also had 13 grandchildren, whom he adored, and who adored him: Sarah LaPlante Seidner; James and Mary Catherine Hanafee; Martin Clary; Claire and Caroline LaPlante; Henry and William Klauke; Karis LaPlante; and Aidan, Sophie, August, and Lucy Allaway. We will all miss him greatly.

Visitation will be held Monday, February 24, 2020 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Glueckert Funeral Home, Ltd., 1520 N. Arlington Hts. Rd., Arlington Hts., IL  60004. Visitation will also be held 9:00 am Tuesday, February 25, 2020 until the 10:00 am Mass of Christian Burial at St. Edna Catholic Church, 2525 N. Arlington Hts. Rd., Arlington Hts. Interment will be at St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery in Palatine.

Funeral Information and condolences can be left at www.GlueckertFuneralHome.com or (847) 253-0168.