SIOUX CITY -- William F. "Bill" Behrens, 81, Sioux City passed away Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, at his home
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Redeemer Lutheran Church, with the Rev. Russell Senstad officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Bill was born April 3, 1930, in Coon Rapids, Iowa, the son of William and Cotta (Mueller) Behrens. He was raised in Coon Rapids and graduated from the local high school.
On Sept. 24, 1954, he married Emily A. Jensen at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Sioux City. Bill worked at the National Food Stores and also at Red Owl Grocery. He then took a truck-driving course at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City. He drove trucks for the American Freight Company and then for H & H Trucking in Hinton, Iowa, until he retired.
Bill was a member of Redeemer Lutheran Church and had served as a usher at the church. He was also a member of the teamsters union and was a former member of the meat cutters union. Bill enjoyed playing golf, but what he loved most was spending time with his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Emily; a daughter and her husband, Pam and Steve Hoelker of Sergeant Bluff; a son and his wife, Doug and Laurie of Sioux City; five grandchildren, Laura and Jake Tranmer and their two children, Keegan and Carson, Aaron Hoelker, Dustin and Amanda Behrens, Corey, and Taylor; a stepgrandson, Brett Welling; a brother and his wife, Arno and Margaret of Waterloo, Iowa; four sisters, Florence Burns of Peoria, Ill., Margaret and Mervin Roach of Spirit Lake, Iowa, Doris and Arthur Schultz of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Lois Fillmore of Pensacola, Fla.; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother and his wife, Harold and Viola; and two brothers-in-law, Jack Burns and Olivier Fillmore.