William (Bill) Turanchik

January 10, 1930 - November 25, 2025

MUNROE FALLS - William (Bill) Turanchik, 95, of Munroe Falls, Ohio, went home to be with the Lord on November 25, 2025. Bill was born and raised in Akron before designing and building a home in Munroe Falls in 1970.

Bill was born on January 10, 1930, at the start of the Great Depression.  His parents, John and Mary (Vaselina) Turanchik, were Czechoslovakian immigrants.  Bill was the youngest of eleven children.  His father was hit by a car and was incapacitated for the remainder of his life when Bill was four years old.  His mother passed away from cancer in 1936 when Bill was six years old.  Bill and his younger siblings were then raised by older siblings:  Betty and her husband, John and his wife, Ann and her husband, John and his wife, Marge and her husband, and Irene.  Life was often difficult.

Bill was an excellent student growing up, receiving the American Legion Award.  He won the school marble shooting tournament, was in choir, and played football for Kenmore High School.  He had many friends, including the “Burley Boys," Norman Stewart, Bill Williamson, Bill Stopher, and Ted Kepnes.  He had many fond memories and spoke often of these friends and their good times together.  Once they graduated, Bill and Norm enlisted in the Air Force together.  While home on leave between basic training and leaving for Germany, Bill and Norm went on a double date with their future wives, Patty and Norma.  Bill told Norm after the date that “I’m going to marry Patty one day."

Bill served three years in Germany.  He was stationed in Wiesbaden, USAF headquarters for Europe.  He participated in the Berlin Airlift and saw the devastating effects of WWII firsthand.  He was a member the Air Force European championship football team and played alongside professional football players.  He had many adventures in Europe, all while keeping in touch with Patty.  He was stationed at Edwards Airforce Base in California for an additional year after coming home from Europe.

When he returned home in August 1952, he and Patty started dating.  He proposed on Christmas 1952, and they were married on March 29, 1953.  Bill and Patty went to Kent State University together while Bill also worked at Firestone, Gougler Machine, and Goodyear before graduating in 1956 with a degree in Secondary Education and a master’s degree in 1959.  He taught at West Jr. High School in Akron from 1956 to 1962, Buchtel from 1962 to 1970, and Firestone High School from 1971 to 1991.  He then supervised student teachers at the University of Akron until 2001.  He was well liked by students and had an impact on many lives.  Students often came up to him after they had graduated and would tell him how he had impacted their lives.  He took great joy in his teaching jobs and often marveled that he was actually paid to do it.

Bill and Patty raised four children, Linda, Sue, Will, and Bob.  Every year they would go on a two-week camping trip, loading up the station wagon and the travel trailer and going all over the United States and Canada.  There were many great memories.  Patty passed away from cancer in 2017.  Bill would often say after her passing that “meeting Patty was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and Patty dying was the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

Bill will be missed by many, and his impact on family and the community was profound.  He is an inspiration to his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so many others whose lives he touched.  He showed that with hard work and a positive attitude, life can be wonderful.  He and his family attended church every Sunday, and he served as a Deacon at Chapel Hill Church.  He also volunteered at Harvest for Hunger and was a Gideon.

Bill was preceded in death by his mother and father, John and Mary; siblings, Ann Bender, John (Anastasia), Mary (Victor) Zimmerman, Julia (Louis) Buza, Betty (Adam) Kippes, Helen (Carl) Hout, George (Dotsie), Marge (Michael) Kovac, Irene (John) Palmer, Joe (Irene), and Michael; wife Patricia; and son, Will.  

He is survived by his children, Linda, Susan (Greg) Sherry, and Bob; grandchildren, Alissa (Dan) Weybrecht, Laura (James) Cooper, Nathan (Alexa) Sherry, and Andrew, as well as great-grandchildren, Emma, Evelyn, Esther, and Henry Weybrecht, Violet, Carl, and Pearl Cooper, and William and Anya Sherry.

Bill’s ashes will be interred at Tallmadge Cemetery.