Mr William "Bill" Zdemonstration

Bill was born on a winters day, the tenth of January 1921 in his parents home in Westbourne Road Quinton. He was the eldest child and had a sister Janice and a younger brother David. The family moved to Stuart Road, Rowley Regis where Bill attended primary school winning a scholarship to Grammar school. He was a gifted student who excelled at mathematics and physics.  He completed senior school passing his matriculation but as the war had started he immediately volunteered for the RAF. He was accepted as a potential fighter pilot and after training he became a flight sergeant joining an operational squadron in early 1942 flying first Hurricanes and latterly Spitfires. He was on operations for two years and a half, when he was then transferred to the central flying school in Canada and spent the last year of the war training fighter pilots. He loved his time in Canada and often talked fondly about both the country and friendliness of the people he met.

He was demobbed in early 1946 when he returned to the UK from Canada and joined the Prudential Assurance company working at first in their Birmingham head office and later in his career he transferred to their Smethwick centre. He met his wife Jenny whilst commuting into  Birmingham from rowley Regis and they bought the house they were to live in for the next 52 years in 1954.  Their son Jeremy and daughter Anita followed and  the family settled in Quinton Lane. Bill was a keen football player for Quinton Hawks after the war  and  when he had finished playing would often be seen at  West Bromwich Albion with Jeremy. He also loved Cricket and had played for Quinton for many years and after hanging up his wicket keeping gloves, Bill became treasurer and committee member for many years.

He and Jenny loved to travel and after their retirement were often off on another cruise to see the world. Tragically Jenny passed away in 2004 and shortly after Bill sold the family house moving into Elmhurst Nursing home. His sudden death after a short bout of pneumonia came as a great shock.

Jeremy and Chris, Anita and Tony and families