William “Bill” Ives, age 87, died peacefully on May 30, 2020 in North Carolina surrounded by family. Bill had been the AGSC attorney since its founding until 2019 and was instrumental in the development of the organization.
Born on February 5, 1933, Bill was educated in the Aledo, IL schools where he excelled academically and won 9 varsity letters in football, basketball and track. He received his BA degree from Knox College graduating cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and played on three Midwest Conference Championship golf teams. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1960.
Bill served in the U. S. Army from 1955 to 1957. Although trained as an infantry officer, he joined the US Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps as a Special Agent and a Field Office Commander in Giessen, Germany. He was always proud of his military service and the many lessons he learned from it.
Bill served as the legal attorney for AGSC from its start in 1999 until his retirement in 2019 and was a key figure in its history. He was very proud of the Carl F. Tompkins award (the association’s highest award) that he received in 2013.
“Bill retired from the law firm of Michael Best about ten years ago. At that time AGSC (then known as the AGRSS Committee) still owed the firm a lot of money. Bill bought the receivable from the firm and told us to take our time paying it off. When we finally did seven years ago, Bill brought champagne out for all of us and thus gave our fledging group the chance to grow and take root. He will be greatly missed,” said Mike Schenian, AGSC treasurer.
Bill practiced law for almost 60 years and he gave numerous speeches on legal subjects.
His government positions included the chairmanship of the Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission, special assistant Illinois attorney general and Du Page County, Illinois assistant state’s attorney. He also served as a member of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on International Law.
Bill’s civic involvement included the Executive Committee of the 1992 Chicago World’s Fair, long time board member and President of the International Churchill Center, Board of Governors of the Association of Churchill Fellows at the National Churchill Museum and member of the Illinois State Historical Society’s Advisory Board.
Bill is survived by his wife of 40 years, Virginia Ruth Lowry Ives of Chapel Hill, with whom he shared many happy hours and his sister-in-law, Lois Ives. He was immensely proud of his three children by his first wife, Jane Peterson Schroeder; David William (Jeanne), Carol Elaine Ives Davis and Dr. Daniel Winston (Joy) and his eight grandchildren; Matthew Ives, Andrew Davis, William Ives, Alison Davis, Jeremy Ives, Daniel Ives, Jr., Madeleine Ives and Thomas Ives. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Robert, nephew Rob Ives and grandson Matthew.
Services and burial were held in his hometown of Aledo, Il on Saturday, June 6, 2020. A Memorial Service will be held in Chapel Hill at a later date. The family suggests donations go to a Food Bank of your choice.
If you wish to send a note to Bill’s wife, she can be reached at ivesvirginia@gmail.com.