William Locke, Jr.

William G. Locke, Jr. was born on the 4th of July in 1923, in Kansas City, to William and Alma Locke. He grew up in the Brookside area and attended St. Peter's grade school. He studied to be a priest, attending St. John's seminary for high school, and St. Meinrad's seminary in southern Indiana for college, where his classes were taught in Latin and he developed a lifetime dislike for turnips.

After the United States entered the Second World War, he decided to change the course of his life and enlisted in the Navy. He served with distinction as a Lieutenant JG in the South Pacific. After being wounded in action, he was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital, where he met a navy nurse, Ensign Virginia Mae Kump. He married her in 1947 in her hometown of Northfield, Minnesota. A year later, while he was completing his college degree at Marquette University, their first child was born. They returned to Kansas City, where he found work as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, retiring as a vice-president, and serving a loyal group of clients with unwavering integrity.

Over the next eleven years, they added five more children to their family. All of them graduated from college and successfully made their ways in the world, which brought Bill and Virginia a great deal of pride. Their family has spread out geographically but remained close, and has been expanded by six grandchildren. Bill was a kind and generous father and father-in-law, loved by his children and their partners. He was a loving, playful, and attentive grandfather, and his grandchildren were his greatest joy through the last two decades of his life.

Kansas City remained home, and Bill enjoyed the company of friends he had known all his life. Bill and Virginia traveled extensively, visiting far-flung places from the Great Wall of China to the cathedrals of Europe. He was an enthusiastic Chief's fan, an avid fisherman, and never lost his passion for a plate of blue point oysters on the half shell. He remained a devout Catholic, and in that faith he found great comfort.

He leaves behind his loving wife, Virginia, to whom he was married for fifty-eight years. He is also survived by his sister, Joy Bauers; his brother, Bob Locke; and his six children and their families: Bill Locke, Rachel Silverman, and their daughter, Charlotte, of Oakland, California; Tom and Kris Locke of Sequim, Washington, and Tom's stepson, Arrow; Lissa Locke and David Meadows of Oakland, California, and their children, Jonah and Sophie; Betsey Locke and her partner Terri of Kansas City, Missouri; Martin Locke and his daughter Kirani of Excelsior Springs, Missouri; and Sarah Locke and David Berrigan, and their sons Jack and Sam, of Rockville, Maryland; as well as countless nieces and nephews.

At 11:00 on Monday morning, November 26th, 11:00, there will be a memorial mass at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Olathe, Kansas. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to St. Meinrad Seminary, 200 Hill Drive, St Meinrad, Indiana 49577 [www.stmeinrad.edu] or St. Paul's Catholic Church, 900 S. Honeysuckle Dr., Olathe, KS 66061.