Wilfred "Bill" Wait

Wilfred "Bill" Wait, 90, of Robinson, Illinois, passed away in the comfort of his home on August 6, 2026, surrounded by the love of his family. He was born at home in Robinson on December 2, 1935, the son of Lance and Helen (Knapp) Wait. He was a Robinson boy through and through, and he learned the value of a dollar young. By the time he was twelve, he was caddying at the country club, earning enough to buy his own school clothes. He used his hard-earned money to buy his first car, a $100 1932 Ford Coupe, which, as he said, wasn't much better than riding a bike!

After graduating from Robinson High School, Bill answered the call to serve his country and joined the U.S. Air Force in June 1955. He worked as an airplane mechanic and even spent part of his service stationed in Morocco. He had hoped to make a career of it, but at this time, they were downsizing, and he was discharged from Travis Air Force Base in 1958. Back home in Robinson, Bill met the woman who would become his wife in the best kind of accident. He pulled into a drive-in restaurant and parked next to a young woman named Donna Rae Lockhart, and the two got to talking. The rest, as they say, was history. They were married on May 5, 1962, and began a life together that would last nearly fifty years.

Bill built his working life around the original Western Auto on the square. After lightning struck the building, he and John Goff bought the franchise and went into business together. And what a business it was! It would be easier to list what they didn't sell. Tires, household furniture, guns, TVs, and just about everything in between, plus lawn mower repair for good measure. His kids managed to overlook all of it in favor of the one thing that really mattered to them: the pop machine. Business was good in the days before Wal-Mart came to town, and not long after, Bill decided to retire. Sitting still was never Bill's strong suit, however, and retirement lasted all of about a year. He soon went back to work as a receiving clerk at Big Buck, where he stayed for several years, and all the while, he busied himself tending to his rental properties.

Bill was more than capable of handling the work himself. He would rather do a thing than pay someone else to do it, and he had the hands to back it up. He was a genuine craftsman, and nowhere was that clearer than in his woodworking shop. He made his family wardrobe pieces, entertainment centers, a gun cabinet, a buffet, and nightstands, and if a piece called for glass, he would even etch it himself! He was a hard worker, but a wise one, and he knew his limits. Once he reached an age where he couldn't do a job well or safely, he was honest enough to lay the tools down and let a younger man do the job.

Away from the workbench, Bill kept his mind and his hands busy in other ways. He had a real love of history, whether it was WWII or biblical archaeology, and he could sit through a good Western any day, with the Grit Channel high on his list. Jigsaw puzzles had been something he and Donna did together from time to time, but after she died, the card table stayed up and he worked at one steadily, as if to keep her company at the table a while longer.

But whatever filled his quiet hours, it was people who filled his heart. He was as talkative as they came and never met a stranger, always digging to find out whether he might know someone in your family. Nowhere did that heart show more than with his own family. He kept "jingling money" in his pocket and made sure his kids always had a little of their own. His grandkids, though, were the ones who truly cleaned up. They never went home without a bag of candy, often a whole pound of it, which their parents met with something less than joy. He let them take all the quarters they could pick up with one hand from his coin-operated washers and dryers, treated them to Dairy Queen, and could not have been prouder of every single one of them.

His heart for children didn't stop at his own grandkids. Bill loved little ones, every last one of them, and figured that if a person didn't like kids, something was wrong with them. He carried candy to church for the children there just as he did at home. That generosity flowed straight out of his faith. After all, Bill loved the Lord, and that love showed up in more ways than one. He collected all sorts of Bibles over the years, and he wasn't willing to part with a single one. But his faith was more than something he kept on a shelf. He and Donna would go out and buy coats and winter clothes for children in need. After her passing, he took up making chocolate cake and brownies to bring to Sunday School at New Hope Baptist Church, his church home of fifty years. He served New Hope faithfully as a deacon, continuing to hold that office even after his health kept him from attending.

The body that had served Bill so well for ninety years finally gave out, but that was never where his hope rested. He belonged to the Lord, and he still does. He is done with pain and weakness now, home in the presence of the God he loved, and back at Donna's side. That reunion with Donna had been fifteen years in the making, as she preceded him in death on August 1, 2011. Bill was also preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Richard "Byron" Wait.

He is survived by his daughters, Lori (Mike) Tracy of Flat Rock, IL, and Amy (Kieth) Trimble of Newton, IL; his son, Troy (Julie) Wait of Robinson, IL; his grandchildren, Miranda Smothers, Joshua Butcher, Mariah Bell, Levi Butcher, Zachary Trimble, Elania Trimble, Elijah Trimble, Eric Wait, Kierra Wait, and Ladonna Wait; his great-grandchildren, Brice Butcher, Remington Butcher, Liberty Bell, Stephen Bell, Sadie Bell, and Savannah Bell; and by several nieces and nephews.

A time of visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 13th, at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson. Immediately following the visitation, a funeral service officiated by his grandson, Pastor Zachary Trimble, will be held at 1:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oblong Children's Christian Home, with envelopes available at the funeral home.

Burial will be in the Oak Grove Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest with military honors.