In Loving Memory of William Otto Yaeger, Jr.

William Otto Yaeger, Jr., passed away peacefully on April 21, 2025, grateful for a beautiful life while having met cancer with unyielding resilience. Though the road was long and winding, Bill faced it with an open heart, a steady spirit, and a deep belief that even in the most difficult seasons, life still had more to teach him. Through the challenges and opportunities, his strength, stoicism, grace, and depth of character shone through. In all the chapters of his life he taught everyone around him about courage, gratitude, and what truly matters.

Born on July 26, 1961, in Orange, NJ, Bill was the oldest of four children born to Nancy and William Yaeger, Sr. Bill lived a life defined by honesty, determination, and heart. He had a quiet strength about him. He was a man who believed in grit, keeping your promises, and showing up for the people you love — not in grand gestures, but in small, steady ways that built a life of real meaning.

When cancer entered his life, Bill didn’t let it define him. Instead, he chose to be open to exploring all the ways he could receive healing. Not just physical healing – but a holistic approach that would bring love and light to the world and people around him. Believing that even through pain, there was wisdom and insight to be found, he often said he would not trade the experience because it taught him more about himself — about patience, gratitude, courage, and the power of simply being present. “Be in the moment,” he would always say, and that is how we lived our lives.

Through it all, Bill held onto a deep and unwavering belief that death was not an end, but a beginning. It was this quiet certainty that carried him, and those who loved him, through the hardest moments. His strength during those years left a lasting impact on everyone who walked beside him — a reminder that even in hardship, there can be meaning, growth, deep, abiding love, and unabashed laughter. In the darkest moments, Bill and Karen committed to finding humor and putting it all in perspective. Even in their final days together, that was not forgotten, and those moments will always be cherished.

In that same spirit, we close with a callback to Bill’s childhood, when he would regale his siblings and parents with something he called “The Bill Yaeger Show” (often pressing his younger sisters and brother into service as extras). In the years since, remembering those productions has been an endless source of amusement. If Bill’s passing has brought us to the show’s final episode, we offer you the closing credits on a life that ended much too soon, but brought love, laughter, and joy to all of those who were fortunate enough to be part of it. THE BILL YAEGER SHOW: Starring Bill Yaeger; Head Writer, wife Karen Olks; Executive Producers, Bill’s loving and always present parents, Nancy and Bill Yaeger. Production Assistance given by his fun-loving and dear sisters Anne Norton (George) and Kathleen Knowles (Tim) and Music Direction by Bill’s brother, best friend, and partner in all things Pearl Jam, Robert Yaeger (Robin). Nieces and nephews all played special roles - Dan, Mike, Kate, Kim, Jessie, Allie, Grace, and Will. May you each know what an incredible love he felt for you and how invested he was in your lives. So much pride, so much excitement, and so much love! Everyone else whose lives Bill touched--from his cousins, aunts and uncles, friends and co-workers. All of us will carry forward the lessons he taught — about resilience, about loving fiercely, and about believing that there is always more beauty ahead, even when we can’t yet see it.

A gathering to celebrate Bill’s life will be held on June 21, 2025 from 12-3pm at The Robinson Ale House in Asbury Park, NJ. The family invites all who knew and loved him to join in sharing memories, laughter, and joy. Please RSVP to Karen via text at 206-512-9899 OR simply respond on this page via the ‘event’ information below. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to YouthCare.org, in honor of Bill’s life and the hope of which he never let go.

William Otto Yaeger, Jr.’s story does not end here — it continues in the countless lives he touched and in the belief he held so close: that the best is yet to come!

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