William J. “Bill” Smith, 81, of Dubuque died Friday, September 22, 2023.

Visitation will be from 9:00-10:00a.m., Saturday, October 28. 2023 at St. Anthony Catholic Church. Mass of Christian Burial will immediately follow at 10:00a.m. with Rev. Steven Rosonke officiating. The funeral mass will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/@SaintAnthonyDubuque.

Bill was born and raised in Sussex County Delaware. He graduated in the top 10 of his class in 1959.

He worked in chain grocery stores and worked his way up to store manager of Acme Markets and Safeway Stores.

But his first love was horses.  From the mid 1960’s to the early 1980’s, he bred, raised and showed Appaloosa and Quarter Horses, showing championship horses on a local, regional, and national stage.

In the 1980’s, he worked for Wonder Bread as a Regional Sales Manager in Washington and Baltimore areas and a Plant Manager in Cleveland, Ohio.  From there he managed wholesale bakeries in North Carolina, Detroit, Dubuque, Omaha and Chicago.

He retired in 2002, moved back to Dubuque and returned to the horse business, again with both regional and national championship horses.  He finally gave that up for good in 2019, and was content to play golf. Bill also enjoyed listening to music and attending Broadway shows.

He is survived by the love of his life, wife, Mary Ellen (Zalaznik) of Dubuque; three children, Mark, Mike, and Michelle, all of whom live in Delaware and Maryland.  He leaves brothers, Thomas, LeRoy, David, Jeffrey, Kenneth and Timothy and one sister, Kay.  All whom live in Delaware and Maryland, except Tim, who lives in Texas.

He also leaves his in laws, who became his best friends, Margaret Zalaznik, Sue (Ed) Kramer, Marge (Peter) Eldridge, Dan (Vicki) Zalaznik, Kathy (Jerry) Lukan, Steve (Sandy) Zalaznik, David (Clare) Zalaznik, Alan Zalaznik, and Mike Zalaznik. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father and mother, William and Naomi Smith; one brother, Greg; in-laws, Vic (Eunice) Zalaznik; and a brother-in-law, Paul Zalaznik.

The family would like to thank his doctors, Mark Moore, Christian Schultheis, Eric Engelmann and the nurses and staff from the Mercy Cancer Center, with special thanks to Sarah, Jenny and Tammy.

Memorials may be given to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church.