William G. Budenbender

Swansea – A Memorial Service will be held at Grace Baptist Church, 416 Denham Avenue, West Columbia, SC 29160 on Saturday , February 6 th , 10 :00 a.m. in memory of Bill (William G.) Budenbender who left earth Friday, January 29th for his mansion in Heaven as promised by Jesus Chr i st in John 14: 1-3 :

“Let not your heart be troubled:  ye believe in God believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions ; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also ”.

What a promise! H e realized he was a sinner at the age of nine and asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins at a tent meeting at the Cicero Bible Church, Cicero, IL .  In 2019, he received the assurance of his salvation, and knew th e promise above was meant for him as he had been adopted into the family of God.

Bill was born December 14, 1941 and adopted by Henry and Velma Budenbender upon birth.  He graduated from Morton Sterling High School in Cicero, IL in 1960 and was drafted into the Army in 1962 where he served his country in the Viet Nam War.  After his release from the Army he attended school to learn Cobalt and was hired by Brunswick Corporation of Skokie, IL.  He was transferred to the Brunswick - Muskegon, MI branch and met his future wife , Bonnie , through his co-worker , Dale Young. He married Bonnie in September of 1973 and lived in the Grand Haven, MI area.

In September of 1974 the couple welcomed their first child, Jim.  Shortly after the birth, Bill left Brunswick and went to work for Gardner Denver of Grand Have n, MI who was later purchased by Cooper Power Tools . In February of 1976, Bill and Bonnie welcomed a little girl, Christine, to their family. Plans were made to move to Fruitport, MI . Bill designed the house that was built for the family. In 1982, Bonnie became pregnant again and Bill was given the tough choice to move to Lexington, SC where Cooper Power Tools was moving or find other employment.  The family moved to West Columbia in August of 1982 , and they welcomed a new son, David, on the last day of that year. In 1992, the family moved to Swansea, SC into another home that Bill planned and designed.  Around 1997, Cooper Power Tools closed their doors in the United States opting to continue business in Mexico . Bill was then hired by Ambac International as a Program m er Analyst working his way up to IT Manager from which he retired after over 20 years .

During his life - time Bill enjoyed working and serving in his church es in both Michigan and South Carolina .  In Michigan , at Fruitport Bethel Baptist Church he managed th e first Baseball Team and became close friends with Luke Gaskin and Bob DeGroot .  Together they established two more teams for a total of three while he was manager. Not only d i d Bill support the teams with his leadership abilities but served in the Fruitport Bethel Baptist A WANA Program. This program continued to be his main ministry even a fter moving to SC and attending Grace Baptist Ch ur ch in West Columbia, SC. His total A WANA service was over 44-years , i n which he served as a leader, director and a Co-Commander with Commander John Valdario .  He also serve d on the SC A WANA Board of Directors under Missionar ies Mike Hawkins and Bill Fugel . Not only did Bill enjoy the A WANA Program at Grace b ut enjoyed helping prepare the Men’s Prayer B reakfast with John Winn and others. His biggest thrill of serving in A WANA was when a little girl came up and asked him how she could go to heaven and he was able to help her understand the G ospel of Salvation . He also enjoyed serving as usher for several years at Grace. He loved being of service and helping to further God’s Kingdom.

Bill is survived by his wife, Bonnie of over 47 years ; their son, David ; their daughter , Christine Ballard and her husband Brian and their son Samuel ; and their son Jim and his wife Kimberly and their children:  Scott; Seth; Ethan; Carolina and Stephen; Charity; Julia; Matthew.

He will be dearly missed by his family who look forward to seeing him again – some more quickly than others! Heaven is getting sweeter every day for those that love what Jesus did on the Cross … when His blood was shed for us especially when He could have called the angels to prevent His death . He died alone so everyone could be with Him in eternity if they just cry out to Him and tell Him they believe what the Bible says and ask His forgiveness of their sins and believe He has forgiven them through His shed blood on the Cross of Calvary.