William "Bill" T. Zaputil, 73, of Waterloo, died Wednesday, December 4, 2002, at Cedar Valley Hospice Home, after a lengthy illness, from complications of a brain tumor. He was born April 9, 1929, in Diamond, (near Centerville), son of Slavo and Filipina Tijan Zaputil. He attended grade school in Diamond and graduated from Centerville High School in 1946. He married Linda King Grimm on June 26, 1974, in Waterloo. He was a U .S. Army veteran of the Korean Conflict, having served in Germany as a medic with the "Big Red One." He was a 1949 graduate of Des Moines Barber College and was employed as a barber in southern Iowa and later Evansdale for a number of years. He graduated from Iowa Police Academy in 1974 and then worked for UNI security for fifteen years, retiring in 1988. He was a longtime musician in the Midwest (playing the accordion) and was the leader of the following bands through Iowa: "Bill Zaputil Orchestra," "Continental Serenaders," "Midwest Playboys," "Polka Saints" and "The Alpiners." He was a charter member of the Cedar Valley Polka Club and a member of the Iowa Polka Club. In the early 1970s he was elected as polka king of Iowa , and is also in the Iowa Polka Hall of Fame.
Survivors include: his wife; four sons, Shane (Barb) of Cedar Rapids, Robert (Terri) of Plainfield, Jeff (Delisa) of Denver, and Timothy (Jennifer) of Waterloo; three daughters, Cheryl (Bill) Webber of Waterloo, Lisa Grimm Werkmeister of Evansdale, and Kelly (Bryan) Grimm Joslin of Wheaton, Illinois; fourteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; two brothers, Tony of Mystic and George (Betty) of Centerville; and a sister, Ann (Sam) Cerniglia of San Diego. Preceded in death by: six brothers, Frank, Joe, Mike, Ivan, and infant twin brothers, John and Tom; and a sister, Mary Zaputil. Celebration of Life: 3 p.m. Thursday at Garden View Chapel. Friends may call from 1 p.m. until service time Thursday at the funeral home. Military rites will be conducted by Waterloo AMVETS Post 19 and Evansdale AMVETS Post 31. Graveside services will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Oakland Cemetery Centerville. Memorials: will be used for the establishment of a music scholarship.
Copyright Waterloo Courier, December 11, 2002, page B2.