William E. Dr. Breidenbach

He was born on September 15, 1925 to William C. Breidenbach and Mary Dwyer in East St. Louis, IL.

He graduated from Granite City High School in 1943. He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and was promoted to 2nd Lt., as a navigator in the Army Air Corp.

After WWII, he returned to Granite City, IL and attended St. Louis University obtaining a B.A. in Political Science and Math.

He met Norma Gail Reis at a Catholic Youth Organization dance later marrying June 18, 1949 at Sacred Heart Parish in Granite City. They had 5 children over the next fifteen years.

He worked for Dow Chemical in Granite City after graduation in the accounting/purchasing departments. He returned to night and summer school to obtain a Masters in Education from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale and began teaching elementary school in Granite City in 1958. He also obtained a Masters in Speech from Washington State University, Pullman, WA, and a Doctorate in Psychology - Guidance and Counseling from University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO. He was also a member of Phi Delta Kappa.

He was the Guidance Department Director at North High School in Granite City for 10 years. He was also instrumental in founding the teachers union in Granite City. He was very active in church activities, as a member of the choir at Sacred Heart Parish and as a Eucharistic Minister, CCD instruction and member of St. Margaret Mary's Parish. After retirement from the Granite City public school system in 1985, he opened a family, marriage and counseling practice in Granite City. He suffered a devastating stroke in the summer of 1985 and the practice was closed. He and his wife, Norma, moved to Sierra Vista, AZ shortly thereafter. He was also very active in Our Lady of the Mountains Parish activities in Sierra Vista. With declining health, Bill and Norma moved to McAllen, TX in 1999 and to San Antonio, TX in 2002 with their oldest son. Norma, his wife of 54 years, passed away October 16, 2003. His younger brother, Robert C. Breidenbach passed away in 1949. He is survived by son, Ed Breidenbach and wife Sylvia of San Antonio, TX; daughters, Rita Godin and husband Don of E. Lansing, MI, Mary Teresa Cochran and husband Patrick of Corvallis, OR; son, James M. Breidenbach and wife Carmen of Brownsville, TX; and daughter Cate Bachwirtz and husband Charles of Kansas City, MO; 18 grandchildren; 5 great grandchildren; and sister-in-law, Melba Vickery of Sierra Vista, AZ.

Private interment will be held later in Calvary Cemetery in Edwardsville, Illinois.