Harm, William J. "Bill"

(photo)

July 11, 1959 - April 14, 2022

William J. Harm ("Bill") passed away on April 14th, 2022. Bill was born July 11th, 1959 in Omaha, NE. Bill grew up in rural Waterloo, NE.

As a child Bill loved the outdoors, hunting and fishing. At a young age Bill developed his love of drawing. He started with cowboys, horses, and anything wildlife. He was beginning to hone his lifelong passion for art. Bill's education started at District #15 in rural Waterloo. He went there from K-6th grades. Bill then attended Waterloo High School, graduating in 1978. During his school years Bill was involved in many sports, loving football and track. Bill excelled at both, earning All-Conference Honors in Football, and earning spots at the state track meets.

Bill was an excellent athlete. During his high school years, he continued honing his art skills. Bill went onto Dana College in Blair, NE, majoring in Fine Arts/Graphic Design. Bill also played football all years there while earning his BA.

After college Bill worked in various aspects of the arts business, as well as other venues. During this time, Bill met the love of his life, Charlotte Tyrrell.

Bill and Charlotte were married January 29th 1988. During their marriage, they moved several times due to flourishing careers. This had landed them in St. Paul, MN; Waxahachie, TX; and then finally back to Council Bluffs, IA. Most recently, Bill and Charlotte moved to Millard and resided there for the last 6 years.

They both loved traveling through their years, with Hawaii being Bill's special place. He loved Hawaii and would often talk about returning for another visit or permanent stay. During their years of moving and traveling, Bill continued with his art career. During many of these years, Bill traveled the art circuit in the Midwest, and would travel with his art, selling many paintings at the art fairs. Bill also had various art forms he transformed into beautiful works. Bill would travel from Colorado to Ohio and as far north and south as well. One of Bill's working highlights was working for Mangelsen's, or more specifically, Thomas Mangelsen. Bill loved the artwork and photography of Thomas Mangelsen, learning much from the great artist. Bill continued his career by joining Hobby Lobby as a Manager in the Picture/Art Department.

Another one of Bill's childhood passions was stock car racing. His father raced stock cars in Bill's younger years, and he took to the sport. That was always a part of Bill throughout his life. When Bill returned to the local area he quickly got acquainted with the local stock car tracks. His favorite track was Eagle Raceway. For a number of years, Bill and his brother Bob raced with the G.O.T.R.A. around many of the local tracks. But above both his passions of art and racing, was family. Bill was very devoted to his family and extended families. Bill made a priority to visit his brothers at least on a weekly basis. Every Sunday afternoon was a sacred time for him to spend time with his brothers and mother. Another testament to Bill is that he never met anyone who he couldn't be friends with. His Facebook account had over 3700 friends listed in his account. If Bill met you, he considered you a friend. Bill's mantra was, "Make the Most out of Every Day!"

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Mary Harm; sister-in-law, Mary Lou Harm; nephew, Joseph Harm; and in-laws, Norma and Paul Tyrrell.

Bill is survived by his wife of 34 years, Charlotte; brothers and sisters-in-law, Robert, Jim (Sue), Tom (Kristy); sisters-in-law, Debra St. Claire (Patrick), Susie Jones; and brother-in-law, Jerry Tyrrell (Andy Nelson); along with many nieces and nephews and thousands of friends.

A CELEBRATION OF LIFE for Bill will be April 30th, at 2pm, at Westside Church, 15050 West Dodge Road. Memorials may be made out to the Cat House in Lincoln, NE. For those sending flowers, the church requests flowers to arrive before 3pm Thursday, April 28th.

~~~Obituary courtesy of Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska ~~~

FindaGrave # 238949402