"You have always been in our thoughts even though we did not see each other often.Please let us know if we can do anything for you. All our Love"
In loving memory of
WILLIAM E. PESOLA
May 2, 1945 - January 18, 2009
William E. Pesola of 1026 N. Front St., Marquette, was lifted up to Jesus, his Savior, on January 18, 2009 after four years of poor health.
Bill was born in Marquette on May 2, 1945 to Ernest and Janice (LeDuc) Pesola. He graduated from Bishop Baraga High School in 1963, received his B.S. degree in Education, an MA. in Administration, a Specialist's Degree in Educational Administration and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University.
Bill began is career as a teacher in 1969 and served in various educational and administrative posts for ten years. He then formed a commercial investment company and was a shareholder and director of several corporations. In 1981, he formed Marquette Cablevision, Inc., which was sold to Bresnan Communications for whom he became a consultant. In 1990, he purchased eight Big Boy restaurants in the U.P. When K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base closed in 1993, Bill established the first investment group to develop properties to help revitalize the community. He also created the McClure Basin Association, Inc.
Bill was a member of St. Michael Parish, a City Commissioner for two terms, was in Who's Who in America, a member of the Board of Managers of the Upper Peninsula State Fair, the Marquette Rotary Club, Lake Superior Community Partnership, Marquette Economic Club, and was a director on the Board of the Marquette County Historical Society. He was an avid antique collector and especially enjoyed collecting religious artifacts.
His most important accomplishment was his love and devotion to his family, especially his grandson, Anthony.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Kathleen (Deschaine); his daughters, Kristy and Laurie Pesola; grandson, Anthony Pesola; his mother, Janice (LeDuc) Pesola Brown; three brothers, Bruce (Rhonda), Brian (Wendy) and Brent (Kristen) Pesola; his mother-in-law, Betty Deschaine; several nieces and nephews. He also leaves behind many, many dear friends. Bill was preceded in death by his father, Ernest Pesola, a brother, Robert and his father-in-law, Leo (Dusty) Deschaine.
Friends may call at the Canale-Tonella Funeral Home on Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. where a parish prayer service will take place at 7 p.m. Visitation will also take place on Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. at St. Michael Catholic Church where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. with the Rev. Ben Paris officiating.
Pallbearers will be Bruce, Brian, Brent and Anthony Pesola, Bob LaCosse, Daryl Jarvinen, Dean Larson and Steven Woltz.
A reception will be held in the Msgr. Zyrd Parish Center immediately following the mass.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Anthony Pesola Trust for his college education c/o Kathleen M. Pesola, 1026 N. Front St., Marquette, MI 49855.
Tributes
"Dear Kathy. What a tragic loss! Know you are in my thoughts and prayers as you journey through this most difficult time. May the Lord bless you with His comfort and love. Mae McCarthy (Mabel Beauchamp)"
"My thoughts and prayers are with all of you."
"Bruce and family, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your brother. My prayers are with you and your family at this sad time."
"We are very sorry for your loss, Bill will be greatly missed by all who knew him."
"Laurie, I am so sad for the loss of your dad. My prayers are with you and your family."
"Our thoughts and prayers are with you in this difficult time. Bill will be sadly missed as a good friend and a leader in the community."
"Dear Janice, and Family, You have my very deepest in the loss of your son please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Take Care. Love, Coleen"
"Laurie, My deepest sympathy to you and your family. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Lots of love and hugs!"
"Kathy & Family, My prayers and thoughts are with y'all. This is hard to write, I have so many great memories with Bill (Brother P...) Happy that we got a chance to see him, and you, in September. Mike"
"The Pesola family took me in as their 3rd daughter 25 years ago when Laur & I first met. Bill was always like a dad to me. As you all know I would much rather be at the Pesolas' than at the Dane house. I'll never forget all the great times we had at camp & "Dad" taking us to Hardees for "munchies" after school. He will always hold a special place in my heart & will truly be missed. Laur, Please remember I am always here for you & you can lean on me whenever you need to. I love you!"
"Kathy,Kristy & Laurie Reaching out to you in sympathy and love and letting you know how much we care."
"Kathleen and Family, Bill will be sadly by all. May God give you the strenth and wisdom during this time. May God Bless You All Patti and Bill Heller"
"I was so sorry to hear of Bill's passing. He was a wonderful man and will be missed by many. You are all in my thoughts. Cherish your memories of him."
"Dear Janice and family, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of Billy. My sincere sympathy to all of you. Sarah (Cousin)"
"You will be missed! Thanks for all the great memories and good times! Above all thank you for your friendship! Love Nancy"
"Kathy and family: We are so very sorry about Bill's passing. Doug had hoped each summer to get to know him better. My memories will be with me forever -- some I could not put in writing for public viewing. Our prayers are with you as you begin the grief process, and I will always be here for you. Love to you -- Susan & Doug"
"Kathy, Kristy, Laur and Anthony, Please know that my heart goes out to each and everyone of you and the whole Pesola family!! You are a wonderful family and Bill will truly be missed!! Laur, Please know that I will be here for you whenever you need me.. I'm only a mile away!! Please take care and I know its hard to see right now but time does heal. With Love,"
"While I did not have the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pesola, I do know Laur and many of her wonderful friends. I'm very sorry for our loss. All of you are in my thoughts and prayers. Love - Chris"
"Laur & Family~ I am so sorry to hear about Mr Pesola. I are praying that you find the strength to get thru the coming days! Hold tight to your memories of him and he will continue to live inside each one of you!! Laur, if you need anything, please let me know!!!! You have an amazing support group - you just need to let us know! I love you!"
"Kathy, I am so very sorry for your loss. Bill will be missed terribly by all of us who knew and loved him. He will leave a hole that will be very difficult to fill. I am so glad for the opportunities we've had to share time with you both. I'm so glad we had a chance to visit with you both on New Years Eve. Little did we think it would be the last time we would see him. We will see you when we get back from Florida. May God hold you up and give you peace. Let those around you help you though this difficult time."
"Dear Kathleen, Janice & Family, Please accept my deepest sympathy on Bill's passing. I am very grateful that Bill led the way in transferring ownership from the Longyear Trust to those of us that live on one of the Dead River Basins. He had the vision and the ability to make it happen. For that, I will always think of him in a very good light. I'm sorry for your loss but rest assured that many will have very positive memories that hopefully will ease the pain. Sincerely, Ron Kauppila The Villages, Fl."
"Please accept our deepest sympathy. Bill will be missed by all of his friends and colleagues across the miles. We have many fond memories of our visits and conversations."
"Laur, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. I did not know him very well, but from what I've heard and read he sounds amazing. I will be praying that you find comfort in your friends and family to help get you through. Love you and thinking of you, Kendra"
"My thoughts and prayers are with you. At this time let Jesus hold all of you close to His heart. Blessings & peace. Marty"
"Dearest family, I do this signing for my mom all the time but oh how hard it is for someone you considered a friend and peer. My prayers are with you all and may Our Lord help you remember all the great memories you have created with Bill and accept that he is with his Savior. Love, Sue Puig (Carlson)"
"Dear Kathleen: Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you during this very dificult time."
"Brian/Bruce and the rest of the family...very sorry for your loss...my thoughts and prayers are with all of you during this difficult time...Joe LaPorte"
"Kathy, Kristie, and Laur, I am so sorry to hear about your loss. My prayers and thoughts are with you at your time of sadness. Kerri"
"Laur and Family- Our thoughts and prayers are with you all during this sad and difficult time. We are here for you-ANYTIME!"
"My prayers are with your family."
"Janice, Kathy and Family We send our love and hearfelt sympathy. We are thinking of each one of you and we are so saddened. May the Lord be with you. Love & prayers Judy & Ardean"
"Our deepest sympathy in the loss of Bill. He was a good friend and we will miss his coming to the Ishpeming Elks with Gordy Elson and share the latest happenings in their lives! I would tell him in Finnish, Otamme osaa surunne! We share in your sympathy! Carl & Doris Pellonpaa"
"Kathy: I am currently in Nevada at my son's. I was saddened when Sandy called me and gave me the news of Bill's passing. I am so sorry for your loss and my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. It is a terrible pain to lose a loved one but the one consolation I had when my brother passed was that I would, one day, see him in heaven. Peggy (Anderson)Ellis"
"I wanted to send my condolences to your family for the loss of your loved one. I see that Bill was very active in the comunity and was involved in his church.In the bible book of Acts24:15 it talks about a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous, so Bill will come back to a paradise earth in the very near future. Again I am sorry for your loss. lisles37192@mypacks.net One of Jehovah's Witnesses"
"Kathy, Kristy, Laur and Anthony, My deepest sympathy to you all. In the past 5 years I had the great honor to know Bill. he was a remarkable person. The office just won't be the same. My prayers are with your family. Sincerely, Karen"
"I am sorry for your great loss,please know you are all in our thoughts and prayers."
"Laur, I am deeply sorry for your loss. Please know you will have the best Guardian Angel watching over you. Time will mend a broken heart...you have all the memories in the world. Love, Niki"
"Just sending a message to let you know that I am thinking of all of you. I will miss my Uncle Bill and will treasure all the memories of our family parties at camp. Love you all. Staci"
"To My Dad, My Mentor, My Hero; I don't know what I'm going to do without you. You are a caring father, a wonderful grandfather and an amazing man. I know you will be watching over all of us, you always have. Words could never express all that you mean to me. There is a place in my heart that no one else can fill, I love you dad. Toss me a penny from heaven."
"Kathy, Janice and Pesola Boys and families, I just want you to know that my heart has been with you this past week. I have many wonderful memories of growing up with Billy and as we all know those are ours to keep. Our thoughts and prayers are with you."
"So sorry to hear of the loss of one of our friends and classmate. Our deepest sympathy to all. Bill will be greatly missed by all of us."
"Kathy and family, it is so hard to think of Billy not being here, you all were so amazing during the services, so strong and with so much love for each other, I wish everyone had the opportunity to know Bill and see all the great things he did for so many people, I rememeber people like Hanna Gillette and the family out in Skandia that he helped get there house back, so many times he did for people that noone knows about, we do and we will always cherish these memories, we all loved him, esp the Class of "63", he meant the world to all of us, be proud of all his good deeds and how kind he was to everyone. Call on us if you need help, we are all here for all of you. Doreen & Dennis"
"Kristi and family, So sorry to read of your Dad s passing to the other side. It s a terrible thing to happen but let s hope they both are in a better place free of PAIN. My deepest sympaathies go out to your entire family. Becky lost her Dad on the 12th of Jan God Bless you all"
"I haven't known what to say or write since I heard the news that my Uncle Bill has moved on from this Earthly world. I guess the physical distance created a bit of a vacuum and left me to put this unpleasant fact of life out of my mind for some time. But here I am, reflecting on the life of a man who I always respected and admired. More than just a man, Uncle Bill was a lively soul who was playful at heart, dedicated in Love, resourceful at business and had an eye for timeless beauty. One of my favorite things growing up was to go visit Uncle Billy and Aunt Kathy. While my sister Staci would play with Kristy and Laurie upstairs at Front st, I would go down to the basement, hoping to get a peek into his office. It held all manner of collectibles, oddities and fun items to examine. When I wasn't exploring his basement at Front st, I was running around his camp during family parties at his place (remember the annual wiener roasts!?) One of the best times to be had in the U.P. was enjoying a hot sauna with my uncles and eating mukara (sauna sausage) off the hot rocks. I share attributes with each of my dad's four brothers. From my father Bruce; I get spirituality, resourcefulness, good looks and wanderlust. From Robert; my creative energy and passion for art. From Brent; tendencies for storytelling, intellect and quest for knowledge. From Brian; traits of kindness, romance and loyalty in Love. Uncle Bill was the oldest of the brothers and from him I get a little of each of the rest, but also my business acumen, quest for success and desire to experience the absolute best of what life has to offer. His tastes for all things fantastic resulted in spectacular displays in his homes or on his land. You just never knew what you would see next when you came over. One minute there would be some woods, then the next minute a train caboose and a chapel would spring up out of nowhere! It was like going to Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, but without the monkey. Then again, he probably had a monkey brain pickled in a jar somewhere on a shelf that I never saw. Uncle Bill was my Godfather as well. He would always take the time to acknowledge my successes in life. He'd cut out articles from the Mining Journal in which I was featured, have them laminated and framed and send them to me. It meant so much to know that he was proud of me and that he took the time to do these things to let me know. I visited with him in Marquette for a couple hours shortly before he passed. We chatted a little about life and some small things. He was in good spirits and although tired, continued the good fight a while longer. I told him that I would miss him if we didn't get to see eachother again soon. And I do miss you Uncle Bill! I do. I am sad that you are gone and I weep as I type this now. When I catch up to you, you can show my all the cool things you've discovered in Heaven. OK? Love, DJ"
"Kathy, I am thinking of you and hoping you are finding some peace & comfort as time will allow... I was on this site looking for someone else when I saw Bill's name - know that he is in a beautiful place."
"Our hearts are heavy having just learned today of Bill's passing, oddly enough, only a day after we spoke of calling him about a "find" that he was sure to love hearing about. We met Bill at an auction 7 or 8 years ago. It was in Champion, Michigan on a very cold and snowy fall day. We were introduced by the auctioneer, a mutual friend. At some point that afternoon, Bill was "toughing out the weather" with a jacket that was not much heavier than a wind-breaker. I offered him my gloves and neck warmer because he looked so cold and chilled. From that moment on, Bill was a freind. He and Lisa "talked football" like old pro's! There was never a time that he would not welcome a phone call or a visit. He was always funny, wonderfully witty, seriously intelligent and wise, never hesitant to offer words of wisdom. Bill had a charisma that was mysterious and intriguing. Even with his tremendous successes, he was always one of the most real people we've ever known. If there is one thing that could be said about Bill; he was indeed, the genuine article. We will miss him dearly. Our most sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to his entire family."