William T. Stuifbergen of Portage passed peacefully on July 26, 2026 in his home surrounded by his daughters and son.

Born April 18, 1934, William graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School where he met and eventually married Joyce Leone Oeschger, his wife for nearly 70 years.

He and Joyce raised four children in Portage, Michigan. He was a family man and built meaningful relationships with each of his kids. He dressed up as Santa every Christmas, gave an annual monologue on Christmas day, and followed that with a history quiz. He loved taking his family to swim in the area lakes, and we spent many days at our grandparents’ cottage in the summer at Adam’s Lake in Delton, Michigan.

Bill was an accomplished athlete. In high school he made the all-state first team in baseball, and in 1951-52 was the captain of the Kalamazoo Central basketball team when they won their third state championship in a row. In football he was chosen high school second team all-state quarterback. In high school baseball, he had a combined batting average of over 440. In 1954 as a professional baseball player, Bill signed with the Athletics ending that year as the MVP of the league. The next two years he batted over 300 and had 54 home runs combined. He reached AA ball his last year in 1958, but decided to finish his college education graduating cum laude majoring in Social Studies from Western Michigan University. Bill played table tennis winning numerous city tournaments and several state tournaments. He took up golf at 35, winning his age division three times in city senior tournaments as well as multiple times with golf partner Bob Sawall. When he was retired he played in an annual table tennis tournament in Gulf Shores, Alabama, winning the tournament six years in a row.

His coaching years started as an assistant at Lansing Sexton. He helped win the 1959-60 men’s basketball state championship in his first year. He then went back home to Kalamazoo to coach at Loy Norrix High School. He coached baseball through nine years, finishing first or second in the league and winning 24 consecutive games during that period. In the 1968-69 basketball season, Norrix won the league and he was coach of the year in the GK area. He also was the offensive coordinator for 19 years in football and ended his career coaching women’s golf. In 2009, he started teaching golf for Portage Senior Citizens. In 2025, he was still giving lessons to friends and family at the driving range.

Aside from athletics, Bill wrote a history book about Kalamazoo for the third grade curriculum in the Kalamazoo Public Schools. The book took the students on a hot air balloon to view historical events. For two years he gave ventriloquism presentations to third grade classes with his side kick Stanley and “together” gave a Kalamazoo history lesson to the wide eyed students. He was on the board of governors at Milham Park Golf Course and on the Wesley Foundation Board at W.M.U. He sang with the musical group “Prime Time Players” with Joyce, was a member at St. Andrew’s Church where he taught Sunday school, and with Joyce, worked on their food drive.

Throughout his life, bill talked about time in minutes: he was always ready to move on to the next event and didn’t like being idle. At the end of his life, he had lost a lot of weight and had to spend a good deal of time in bed. As an athlete, unable to use the tools he had honed through his life, he was ready to move on and questioned why he was still there. Lying in bed was idle time and he had no use for it. In his last days with us, he often alluded to going on a trip. His rallying cry was “Let’s go!”; as he had been throughout his life, he was ready for the next adventure.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, William and Dena Stuifbergen, his wife, Joyce Stuifbergen and son Paul Stuifbergen.
He is survived by his family; daughters, Lisa Capotosto (John) and Debbie Reeder (Tim); son, Scott Stuifbergen (Linda); grandchildren, Danielle Joyce Grahs, (Gary), Leslie Ibarra (Erick), Jacob Stuifbergen (fiancé, Sydney Balk), William Reeder (Kristen), Luke Reeder; great grandchildren, Jameson, Maggie, Elizabeth, Isaac, and Ruth; sister-in-law, Jean Tsuji (Thomas), and nephews James Tsuji, and Robert Tsuji.
The family would like to express their immense gratitude to those who cared for Bill: Jim Dyke, friend and pastor of St. Andrew Community Church; care givers Liz Baker, Sandra Lassitter, Jennifer Huber; Forget Me Not caregivers, Emily, Alana, and Kara; and Centrica Care Navigators Brooke, Amy, Matt, Ashley and Tommy. It takes a village, and we are so thankful to have had you in Bill’s life.