William John Durst

William John Durst, age 80, of Savanna, IL, passed away on February 27, 2024. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 4, 2024 at St. Mary’s of Lourdes Catholic Church in rural Metamora, IL. Visitation will take place one hour prior to Mass, at the church. Cremation rites will follow, with burial on a later date. Memorials may be made to St. Vincent de Paul society/charity for the poor at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Peoria Heights, Illinois or St. Mary of Lourdes Catholic Church in Germantown Hills, Illinois.

Bill was born August 1, 1943, in Ottawa, IL, the son of Milton and Mona (Regele) Durst. Growing up in Germantown Hills, IL, he attended local schools, graduating from Metamora High School. Bill then earned his bachelor’s degree at Bradley University, and his master’s degree in education administration at Illinois State University.

Bill served his community as a teacher in Creve Coeur, Pekin, and Aurora, respectively, before entering into insurance sales. He worked for Farmers Insurance for more than 30 years. Never one to put all his eggs in one basket, Bill owned several rental properties throughout his life, and owned a candy store in Naperville, IL for nearly a decade. That candy store, The Chocolate Key, wound up being Bill’s favorite business venture. He was proud to offer fun employment opportunities for local high school and college students, and loved the joy surrounding that business; who isn’t happy when they’re buying candy! As Bill entered retirement age around 2010, he moved to Savanna, IL, where he bought the downtown building currently housing the Sunshine Café.

In his down time, Bill enjoyed trying new restaurants as a self-proclaimed food critic, and spent many hours improving his homemade pizzas. Every ingredient needed to be perfected through trial and error. He also loved boating, fishing, collecting old cars, and of course spending time with his beloved daughters and grandchildren. He was a talented musician who initially taught himself to play piano on a cardboard keyboard, he made for himself. He also composed music, and played at many venues throughout his life, including Shaky’s Pizza, in Peoria, IL, and supper clubs in Aurora and Naperville, and was even able to meet Frank Sinatra in an intimate setting. Bill was the type of person who never met a stranger. He had a way of making you feel special and appreciated in every interaction, and made a habit of helping people in secretive ways.

Bill will be dearly missed by his two daughters, Amy (Tony) Gutzwiller, of Batesville, IN and Jody Daily, of Gulf Breeze, FL; nine grandchildren, Marissa (Jordan) Pliska, Ian Daily, William Gutzwiller, Morgan Daily, Lauren Gutzwiller, Emma Daily, Grace Gutzwiller, Gianna Daily, Mikaela Gutzwiller; siblings, Tom (Karen) Durst and Janeen (Mike) Zimmerman; and dear friend, Sandra Curnutt. Bill is preceded in death by his parents, Milton and Mona.