William Carlisle

William “Bill” Carlisle

February 26, 1944, to May 6, 2023

William Randall Carlisle, 79, died May 6, 2023, in Villa Ridge, Illinois, of complications from cancer.

Born February 26, 1944, in Urbana, Illinois, to Harry Randall and Susie Ellen (Wells) Carlisle, Bill was raised in Royal, Illinois. He graduated from Ogden High School in 1962.

The next year, Bill enlisted in the Illinois Army National Guard. He received an honorable discharge in 1969.

Also in 1969, he entered Ironworkers Local 380. Bill remained a journeyman in the local for about 30 years, connecting iron on bridges and buildings across Illinois.

He took an absence from the local in the early 1970s to work on ranches in Wyoming, and again from 1992 to 1997 to manage a horse and cattle farm in Pecatonica, Illinois.

After leaving iron working for the last time, Bill obtained a thoroughbred horse trainer license. He raced horses in Illinois and Kentucky from 2005 through 2009.

Bill spent his last years in southern Illinois, watching horse racing, listening to Illini football and basketball and Chicago Cubs games on the radio and devouring Shakespeare with a local reading group.

In 1977, he married Brooke Harlan. They had three sons. The couple divorced in 1997.

Bill’s parents and a sister, Nina Lou Fudge, preceded him in death. Bill is survived by a sister, Betty Tarr, of Fisher; and three sons, Nate (Brook) Carlisle, of Salt Lake City, and Tyler and Colter Carlisle, both of Los Angeles.

A viewing for family will be held 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 13, at Freese Funeral Home in St. Joseph, Illinois. A graveside service will be 11 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Cemetery in Royal.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge – St. Louis, 4215 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108.

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