Bill Current
1940 ~ 2023
Captain Bill Current, age 83, of Bloomington, MN passed away unexpectedly on October 17th, 2023. Bill was the youngest of three children born to William and Bertha Current in Harrisonville MO. His father was employed by TWA as a mechanic.
As a high school student Bill was highly focused on football. After high school graduation Bill enrolled at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO. The college is a church school and was founded in 1849. As a college student Bill concentrated on physics and football. Upon graduation, with his college degree in hand, Bill began a career as a high school physics teacher. However, passions for flying were still calling.
It must have been difficult on a teacher’s salary, but somehow Bill acquired his FAA licenses and accumulated the flight time needed for airline employment. His fortitude paid off on September 5, 1967, the he began his 32 year career with Northwest Airlines.
In 1967 the starting cockpit seat at NWA was as Boeing 727 second officer. Bill followed the standard career tract by upgrading as seniority permitted through the Boeing 720/320s, the DC-10, and then he found his airplane – the Boeing 757. Often described as the pilot’s favorite, the Boeing 757 and domestic flying pleased Bill – he had found his niche! He acclaimed the 757 as his favorite airplane, because at the time it was the most technologically advanced and he enjoyed the oversized engines that “threw you back in your seat.”
In 1968 Bill met the love of his life, Kathy, at the old Eddie Webster’s in Bloomington, MN. He just happened to stop in on his way home from the airport one night, as Kathy just happened to be there to watch her best friend’s dad play piano. They married after a three-year courtship and were each other’s rock for the last 53 years.
The most notable lifetime accomplishments he would want shared with his peers were the hole in one and the double eagle he pulled off during his golfing ‘career’. Bill shared a passion for golf with his wife Kathy. This was a sport he had a strong love/hate relationship with, but at the end of the day there was no other place he wanted to be, but on the golf course.
There were some other skills little known to his airline peers; Bill was skilled with computers, an accomplished amateur radio operator (W0YUA), and a woodworking craftsman to boot. His companionship, generosity and of course his dry wit will be greatly missed. As he always said when doing any work that required a step ladder, ‘I never knew my real ladder’.
In retirement Bill quietly dedicated time to helping his grandson Cody with his math and science studies.
Bill was preceded in death by parents, William Paul and Bertha; and sisters Patty and Betty. Survived by loving wife Kathy; children Jeff and Cheryl (Jesse) and grandson, Cody.
Thank you for sharing your life with us.
(-Kathy Current and Bill Day)