- William Clyde Deem Jr. was
born June 5, 1924, in Urbana, Illinois, to William C. and Sylvia
M. Deem. He grew up in the Depression era at 503 W. Bradley in
Champaign.
At an early age Bill began his exploration of the sciences, most
notably photography. Times were many that members of the family
would have to endure long periods where the home's solitary bathroom
was unavailable because Bill was developing pictures inside.
His love for art by camera spanned his entire life.
Bill served a four-year stint in the United States Army during
World War II and became very interested in aeronautics and metals
engineering. His most profound military experience came when
he was assigned as part of a team to streamline a bomber in order
to make it fly as aerodynamically efficient as possible. It was
only after the fact he learned this plane, the Enola Gay, was
charged with the mission of dropping the first atomic bomb on
Hiroshima, Japan.
His interest in flight profoundly affected two adult vocations.
In 1951 he earned his personal pilot's license. And he developed
a lifelong interest in space exploration with the 1969 Apollo
11 moon landing being a personal highlight. Bill also was on
hand in Florida for the 1971 launch of Apollo 15 and John Glenn's
return to space on the shuttle in 1999.
He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1950 with a degree
in mechanical engineering. He was hired that summer by Eli Bridge
Company in Jacksonville, Illinois. For the next half century,
Bill was engineer and chief engineer for the world's foremost
manufacturer of Ferris Wheel rides. He and Lee A. Sullivan designed
The Scrambler® which Eli Bridge still builds today. Bill
was also responsible for redesigning the Big Eli® Wheel and
The Scrambler® to operate from a tractor trailer, making
these rides fully portable.
He also served as designer for The Little Eli, The Little Scrambler,
The Little Swing and The Construction Zone rides for children
as well as The Cycloid, a modified version of The Scrambler®.
During an eight-year tenure on Jacksonville School District #117's
Board of Education, Bill strongly supported the learning programs
at Jacksonville High School. He was chief among those who in
1965 made possible the design and construction of the Vocational
Arts Building which housed classes for many of the technical
sciences.
Bill's love of all sciences made him an obvious choice to serve
as a judge for the Illinois Junior Academy of Science. In 1963,
he conceived the idea of creating Best of Exposition Awards to
be presented to the top projects in both the junior high and
senior high divisions. He and Lee Sullivan took on the project,
conducted the fundraising campaign and established a permanent
fund. Interest from this fund continues to provide the annual
monetary prizes presented to the winners. He continued to administer
this program until shortly before his death in 2001.
He followed the progress of the computer from its early days
to the present. He wrote simple programming which he ran on computers
at the University of Illinois. Though very uncomplicated, the
programs took over two hours to execute. In his final years,
he taught himself the AutoCAD program on his personal computer.
He became sufficiently expert with this process that he finally
retired his large drafting board and engineering pencil he had
used throughout his professional life.
William C. Deem passed away on May 8, 2001. The William C. Deem/Kiwanis
Science Award was created by his family and the Kiwanis Club
of Jacksonville as a memorial to a man who loved science and
helping young people. Through the generosity of our benefactors,
this annual award allows the name of William C. Deem to continue
helping others further their knowledge and interest in scientific
endeavors.
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