William John Sigward

Bill was born in Elwood, Indiana, in 1924. During World War II, he served stateside as a pilot trainee in the Army Air Force's flight training school. He subsequently remained in the Air Force Reserves while attending Purdue University, where he was also a flight instructor at the Purdue Airport in West Lafayette. In 1951 he was called back into active military duty and served as a pilot during the Korean War. His duties in Korea included evacuating wounded soldiers from combat zones and flying them to medical treatment centers.

Following service in Korea and the completion in 1954 of his Air Force career, Bill began a long and successful career as a manufacturer's representative, a career in which he marketed a range of engineered systems and products utilized in plants and factories. He eventually formed his own firm and continued to represent leading Midwest manufacturing companies. He resided in Indianapolis for the past 66 years.

Bill was married for 59 years to his beloved Mary Ann, who predeceased him in 2010, and whom he now rejoins for eternity. He and Mary Ann together enjoyed ballroom dancing and playing golf. Bill scored a hole-in-one at the William Sahm course in 2002.

Bill enjoyed friendships with a great many people who will miss him greatly.

Bill is survived by his three sons and their wives, Bill Jr. & Cherie, David & Natalia, and Kevin & Lise; by his sister Susie; and by his five grandchildren, each of whom he loved dearly, Daniel, Bryan, Mary, Stephen, and Peter.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Friday, February 8, 2019 at 11:00 AM at St. Matthew Catholic Church, 4100 E. 56th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220. Entombment will follow at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery, 9001 Haverstick Road, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240.

**************

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle flew -

And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

— John Gillespie Magee, 1941