William Phelan Budke

William Phelan Budke Sr, age 93, died peacefully October 15, 2013 at Sunrise Assisted Living where he moved August 23rd from the Carriage Club. He was married to Martha Furr Budke for 66 years. Bill & Martha retired to Jacksonville, FL from St Louis, MO 24 years ago. He leaves behind a daughter, Allison Budke Weiland, Jacksonville, FL two grandchildren, Timothy Weiland (NY City) and Page (Travis) Maton, Jacksonville, FL. Four grandchildren from the St Louis area,
Russell (Lorraine) Budke, Darla Grzeskowiak, Marta Umphrey, Bradley Budke, and great grandchildren. Two sons were preceded in death, Louis Henry “Hank” Budke III, and William Phelan Budke, Jr and his wife Kathryn Kiel Budke from St Louis, MO.

There were 4 in his family, Louis Henry Budke, Jr, George Phelan Budke, and Barbara Budke Cady who passed before him, all from St Louis, MO.

Bill graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Journalism in 1948. He was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity & Phi Eta Sigma, Honorary.
He was V.P. of Tiger Claws and an Adjutant, Lt. Col. in Advanced ROTC.

During WWII, he served in the U.S. Army for 3 years as a Sgt. 4th General Hospital 32nd Infantry in Papua, New Guinea & Melbourne, Australia.

He joined the Equitable Companies in June, 1955 and was elected to the Equitable Hall of Fame in 1966, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by Equitable, named Equitable Man of the Year for several years, and was a Life Member of the Million Dollar Round Table. He was past President of the Life Underwriters Assn of St Louis in 1964 and Estate Planning Council of St Louis in 1975. He was awarded Hall of Fame by Life Underwriters Assn and was a member of the Board of MALL (Missouri Assn Life Leaders) for 18 years.

Bill was a long time member of Westborough Country Club in St Louis, MO where he was the Easter Bunny & Swim Meet Announcer for 30 years, and Santa Claus. In Jacksonville, he was a member of Deerwood Country Club and Holy Family Catholic Church where he was an usher for over 20 years. He volunteered in Player Services at TPC for close to 20 years. An avid golfer, he had several Holes in One. At age 78, he had shot his age or under for 5 years in a row, copied the score cards and distributed the copies to all his friends via U.S. mail. In 2005, at age 85, he shot his age and played until he was 90 years old. He played in the Octogenarian Golf Tournament for almost 10 years.

He will be remembered for his witty humor “Budke-ism’s”, his wool plaid Pendleton pants and his colorful sportcoats. He was one of a kind and left everyone with a smile on their face.

Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, November 8th, 10:30am at Holy Family Catholic Church, 9800 Baymeadows Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32256 with full military honors. Reverend Greg Fay & Reverend Timothy Cusick concelebrants. Final resting place will be at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St Louis, MO at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Community Hospice of NE Florida,
4266 Sunbeam Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32257.