William "Bill" J. Coker Jr., 86, of Springfield, IL died on Thursday December 26 ,2024. Bill was born in Auburn, IL on May 1, 1938 to William J. Coker Sr. and Mary Florence (Gillmore) Coker.

He was preceded in death by his parents, sister, Mary Louise Coker Rimini; and good friend, Joseph Anderson.

Bill is survived by his nephew, Alan (Mary Ann) Rimini of Farmersville, IL and good friends, Dena and Tom Graves of Springfield, IL.

Bill retired from the United States Air Force after serving many years. Bill was also a practicing Catholic and made religion and his faith in Jesus a large part of his life. He was a very humble, grateful and kind man that did not know a stranger. His friends say that he always had a smile on his face and he loved to make people laugh. One of his favorite things to do was to go out to dinner with friends.

In the Spring, Bill would plant and tend his flower garden and enjoyed feeding the birds and star gazing.

One of the things that Bill was the proudest of was his directorship of the Knights of Columbus Choir for a time.

Cremation services are being accorded.

A visitation will be held on Wednesday January 15, 2024 at Ellinger-Kunz and Park Funeral Home 530 North 5th St. Springfield, IL 62702 from 10:00am till 11:00am. Funeral services will follow with a burial at Camp Butler National Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/, or to Catholic Charities of Springfield https://cc.dio.org/