William J. Elliott

William J. Elliott, beloved husband, father, grampa, and great-grump died on May 6, 2018.  He was born June 16, 1930 in Hemlock, Michigan to the late Paul Ross Elliott and Bernice Sheldrake Elliott.

Bill met his loving and lovely wife, Barbara Alice Veltman Elliott, during freshman registration at Western Michigan University. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Math and Physics, and was a member of the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH during the Korean War.  He joined Allison Division of General Motors in Indianapolis, where he and Barbara raised three daughters.  After 33 years employment with Detroit Diesel Allison, he retired in 1986 from General Motors as Executive Director, Corporate Information Technology Management.  He joined Indiana State Government as Executive Director, Office of Systems Technology during which time he was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash by both Governor Robert Orr and again later by Governor Evan Bayh.

He was a former member of the Business Advisory Council for Indiana University Graduate School of Business.  He chaired the Curriculum Committee for the Computer Technology Department of I.U.P.U.I. He chaired the Computer Programming Training curriculum for people with severe disabilities, and was a Member of the Board of Directors at Crossroads.

He enjoyed travelling, classical music, boating, bird watching, tinkering with cars, and spending time with his grandkids. Bill and Barb celebrated their 50^th anniversary with their children in Napa Valley on September 8, 2001.

Bill was preceded in death by his bride of 57 years, Barbara, and his great-grandson, Finn Golitko. He is survived by his daughters Becki (Phil) Utigard, Betsi (Rex) Smalley, and Bobbi (Craig) Courter; grandchildren Emilie (Mark Golitko), Ben and Kevin Utigard; Eric (Courtney) Smalley, Reid and Clay Smalley; and Holly, Heather, Caroline, and Austin Courter; and his siblings, Jacqueline Williams and Paul  (Tonya) Elliott.   He is also survived by his friend Donnamarie Lehotsky, of Little River, South Carolina.

A celebration of his life will be held at 3:00 on Friday, May 18 at Flanner Buchanan- Oaklawn Memorial Gardens (Conner Suite), with a visitation from 1:00 to 3:00.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to eastersealscrossroads.org.  Online condolences can be made at flannerbuchanan.com