Bill came to Dyersville from Farley, to work with his dad, Frank, in Scherrman's automotive, farm implement and household appliance business that was started by Frank in 1928.
Frank eventually moved his family to Dyersville and Bill graduated from Xavier High School in 1937. In October 1937, Bill married Dula Willenborg at St. John's Church in Independence.
Bill and his brothers Jim and Emmett worked with their father in the automotive, implement and appliance business. In the early '50s, they split the automotive business from the implement and appliance business. Jim and Emmett stayed with the automotive business. Frank died in 1955, and Bill took over the implement and appliance business, it was located on First Avenue that is the current location of Dyersville Chiropractic Service.
In 1973, Bill moved the implement business to "Implement Row"
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Three of Bill and Dula's sons, Pat, Don and Joe, took some time to remember their dad last week. They said they knew their dad helped people, but until Bill's wake, they had no idea who, or how many people he helped throughout his life. They said Bill's main objective in life was he wanted to help the farmer and make sure the farmer was taken care of.
According to Pat, Don and Joe, the last third of Bill's life was dedicated to AA. Don said, "Dad said, 'AA saved my life,' and we have heard he helped many others in the same way." AA members knew that they could always depend on Bill if they needed help, or to just talk.
The three brothers recalled how proud Bill was of his association with the Dyersville Commercial Club (DCC). He was president of DCC in early 1950 when the club dug out the new baseball field that is currently in use. He enlisted all kinds of help to get the job done, including getting crawlers from International Harvester and he got help from Dubuque County to dig out the infield and outfield. During an interview a few years ago, Bill recalled how large the rocks were when they constructed the new baseball diamond. He said there are some rocks as big as a Volkswagen Beetle buried in the outfield.
Joe said, "A man from out of state helped with the dynamite and when it was over, he sent the Commercial Club a bill for $1,000. Dad told him they didn't have that kind of money and the guy said he would take some pheasants for his work. Dad sent him four pheasants and the guy returned the bill with a note stating, paid in full with four pheasants. There was a lot of donated labor and equipment."
Besides the Commercial Club, Bill was a member of Dyersville American Legion Post 137, K of C Council 1734, Mercy Hospital Board, St. Francis Cemetery Association and he especially enjoyed being a patient advocate for residents at Oak Crest Manor Nursing Home with Helen Noonan, where they were members of the Residential Care Review Board.
When he had some spare time, Bill liked to fish at Lake Delhi, play cards, golf and bowl. He also liked to travel. Joe said, "Dad was fishing from a boat on Lake Delhi and he caught a bass on his back cast. He said he was so surprised he almost fell out of the boat."
He was an Army veteran from World War II. According to his sons, he had an accident when he was 12 years old. He fell from a train and it ran over a part of his foot. Even so, he volunteered for the Army and was admitted into the Army with limited service from 1942-44.
Pat said, "During dad's wake, we heard so many stories about him. He was an extremely generous man. The family is very pleased with all of the kind stories we heard about dad."