William John Shepeck

William J. Shepeck, 81 of Cloquet, was born in 1925 and died Saturday, June 9, 2007 in Oakdale, MN. Bill was a 1943 graduate of Escanaba Senior High School and a 1949 graduate of the Michigan Technological University in Houghton. He served in the United States Army Air Force from January 25, 1944 until October 30, 1945. Bill worked for the Potlatch Corporation (formerly The Northwest Paper Company) at both the Brainerd and Cloquet, MN locations from 1949 until retirement in 1986. Following retirement, Bill was active as a volunteer in both the Ad Litem and Guardianship Social Service programs in the Duluth area for several years. Ballroom dancing was Bill's forte. He taught a credit class in social dance at the University of Wisconsin-Superior since 1987, along with teaching dance classes for a variety of college and community education programs in Cloquet, Brainerd, Barnum, Duluth, Superior and Rice Lake. His copyrighted dance manual, "Ready-Set-Shall We Dance?" was published by UWS for use as a class text and reference. Bill literally danced his way around the world many times in the position of social dance host on a wide variety of ships on world cruises during the 1993-1999 period. Since 1996 he phased into cruising on ships in the position of dance instructor for the passengers. He is preceded in death by his wife of 37 years, Evelyn; his mother, Anne and his father, William. Bill is survived by three daughters, Maria Francis of Medina, MN, Catherine Krueger of West St. Paul, MN and Evelyn Johnson of Corcoran, MN; five sons, Anthony of Smithsburg, MD, Matthew of Holmen, WI, William of Hazel Green, AL, Joseph of Andover, MN and John of Falcon Heights, MN; three sisters, Patricia Lewis of Escanaba, MI, Anne Curtin of Okemos, MI and Mary Shepeck of Chicago, IL; 14 grandchildren and by a special friend, Patricia Hoffman of Sarona, WI. Memorial Services were held on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 in Northland Funeral Home, 801 14th Street, Cloquet, followed by a luncheon in the Fireside Room of the funeral home. Bill's body has been donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to The Salvation Army in Cloquet.