Remembering Bill Wundram

Bill Wundram was a newspaper man who wrote the stories of the Quad Cities. He wrote about the good times and bad. He wrote about the region’s success stories and tragedies. Many of those stories – and his reporting of them – were remembered and cherished on Sunday, July 30, as hundreds of people came […]

Bill Wundram was a newspaper man who wrote the stories of the Quad Cities. He wrote about the good times and bad. He wrote about the region’s success stories and tragedies. Many of those stories – and his reporting of them – were remembered and cherished on Sunday, July 30, as hundreds of people came out to honor the newspaper man a final time at a public gathering at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport – one of Mr. Wundram’s favorite places.

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Mr. Wundram, a newspaper columnist, reporter and editor for 74 years at the Quad-City Times and its predecessors, died at the age of 98 on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Since he “wasn’t into funerals,” the family decided to host a celebration of his life, Tim Wundram, Bill’s son, said at the public gathering Sunday. The celebration came together with much help from the community. Tim Wundram credited Dave Heller, owner of the Quad City River Bandits, for his help in letting the event take place at Modern Woodmen Park. And just a few days earlier, the Big Tip Circus Band approached him and said they wanted to honor Bill Wundram and play during the celebration. Tim Wundram and several other family members – including Bill’s widow, Helen Wundram – greeted the hundreds of people who came out to offer condolences and share stories of how Bill’s many columns helped them or touched their lives. “It’s so nice. Look at all the people here,” Helen Wundram said as she greeted more than 100 people in the first hour of the celebration. “He knew how to write. He knew how to appeal to people. … Everywhere he went, he would point out something and say ‘That’s a story,’” his son recalled.  He added that his father loved the Quad Cities and was coming up with new ideas for columns and stories until the very end of his life. “A few days before he died, he said ‘I’ve got to get out a few more columns.’ …. He was sharp until the day he died. He was always thinking, thinking, thinking,” Tim Wundram added. The subjects of many of Bill Wundram’s columns and newspaper stories surrounded much of Sunday’s celebration of life. There were men wearing bow ties (a well known fashion statement of Bill Wundram), boxes of Cracker Jack on the tables, red clown noses for the kids and adults, boxes of circus animal crackers, hot dogs and popcorn were served to visitors. In addition, a video of Bill Wundram conducting a symphony and excerpts from previous interviews with Bill Wundram played on the giant screen in the ballpark. Throughout the event space, many photos of Bill Wundram throughout the years were on display.  But above all else, there were objects that centered on the circus life – one of Bill Wundram’s favorite subjects. The Big Top Circus Band even played during the gathering. And when the band wasn’t playing circus tones, Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” was playing over the speakers. “He was 110% for and about the circus,” said Ron “Toto” Johnson during Sunday’s celebration. Mr. Johnson, a former clown with the Barnum & Bailey Circus, said he first met Bill Wundram in the 1980s when the newspaper man went to Texas to do stories on the circus.  Years later, Mr. Johnson moved to Davenport, opened his new hometown newspaper one day and saw Bill Wundram’s picture in the paper. The two reconnected over their mutual love of the circus. “I even became Bill’s personal makeup artist for the Festival of Trees. He would go (to the festival) as a clown,” Mr. Johnson added. The former circus clown brought his own touch of the circus to the Wundram celebration. He wore a shirt depicting various circus clowns. Ironically, one of the clowns on the shirt is him from his Barnum & Bailey days. In addition to his love of clowns and the circus, many people at the celebration commented on Bill Wundram’s love and support for the community. “He was one of the great characters of Davenport. He loved Davenport. He was Davenport,” said former Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba. “He was one of a kind.” The former mayor fondly remembers when the two of them officially opened the Ferris wheel at Modern Woodmen Park in 2014. (A video of that event can be found here.) “We inaugurated the Ferris wheel together. … We became great friends when I was in office,” Mr. Gluba said. Several people at the celebration said Bill Wundram’s easy-going personality and the ability to make friends with every column he wrote was a big part of his appeal. It was also the reason hundreds of people came out to say a final goodbye to the newspaper columnist who many people came to love. “Bill was everybody’s friend,” said Chris Wundram, Bill Wundram’s grandson. “He had a way of making everybody feel he was their best friend.”