William Shinn

William “Bill” Wendell Shinn, 92, of Belmont, formerly of Livingston, Wisconsin, passed away on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, with his daughter by his side, after his diagnosis of metastatic melanoma in September of 2020. Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 12, 2021 at the Melby Funeral Home & Crematory, Platteville. Burial will be at Rock Church Cemetery, rural Livingston. Friends may call from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Thursday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the William Shinn Memorial Fund. Online condolences may be made at www.melbyfh.com.

Bill was born on May 19, 1929 to his mother, Lucy Shinn, and was raised by his maternal grandparents, David and Martha Shinn, in Livingston, WI. He attended school there and graduated from Livingston High School in 1948. Bill had many fond memories of spending time with neighbors, Herb & Verna Goldman, on their farm. After his mother and grandfather passed away it was just Bill and his grandmother and he had many fond memories of their times together and he credits her for raising him to be a good man. After graduation, Bill worked for a dairy farmer until he enlisted in the Army in March 1951. He was stationed in Korea with the 8098^th Engineering Division until he was honorably discharged in March 1953. In 1958 he was married to Carol Rundell and together they had two children, Mary and Charles.

Bill was never afraid of hard work; he worked at the Livingston Lumber Company and later at Burnham Lumber Company for 43 years. He also delivered the Sunday edition of the Wisconsin State Journal almost every week for 38 years. Bill worked both jobs until he was in his 70s.

Family was always first and foremost in Bill's life, he enjoyed spending what free time he had with them; taking many car trips to Manchester, IA, Madison, and Sun Prairie, WI to visit aunts, uncles, and cousins. He discovered he had a sister, Huberta, at the age of 19 and she and her family became a very important part of his adult life. The other love of his life was country music, and he enjoyed following local singers and bands, along with the big names. These last few years he would often pull out his albums, tapes, and CDs and entertain himself for the afternoon. He felt the music reflected so much of the real life joys and sorrows. He also regularly attended services at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belmont, until Covid-19, which prevented him from attending in person. His time spent studying the bible was very important to him.

Bill is survived by his children, Mary (Ed) Knapp and Charles (Rosa) Shinn and their daughter, Lisa (Thomas Para); his sister's children, William (Kristin) Olive, Marie (Rick) Bishop, Gail (Bruce) Helle, Ruth Chapman, Robert (Barb) Olive, and Bruce (Shaila) Boutell and all of their children; cousin, Lowell Shinn and his daughter, Marilyn Jones. He was preceded in death by his mother, Lucy; sister, Huberta Olive and her husband, William Sr.; grandparents, David and Martha Shinn; aunts, Cora (James) Burnson and Viola (Delbert) Bast; and uncles, Willard (Fern) and Gilbert (Shirley) Shinn.