William Schoentgen Obituary

Schoentgen, William Paul 91, died Tuesday, October 4, 2011, at flagstaff Medical Center in flagstaff, Arizona. He had been a resident of flagstaff since 1987. Mr. Schoentgen was born in Dubuque, Iowa, July 18, 1920, to William Peter Schoentgen and Ida (Lembke) Schoentgen. He attended the University of Dubuque for two years before he transferred to the University of Iowa, where he was the editor of the student newspaper, The Daily Iowan, and graduated in 1942 with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. He served in the Army Air Corps in World War II as head of the Public Information Office in Eagle Pass, Texas. Mr. Schoentgen was a writer, who began his post-military career as the editor for The Sheldon Sun in Sheldon, Iowa. In Chicago, Illinois, and later in Frankfort, Kentucky, he was a staff writer, a managing editor, then editor in chief for Western Newspaper Union, an early newspaper syndicate. After returning to Chicago, he worked as the feature editor for Science and Mechanics magazine, where he got to test drive the first Corvette and write about the experience. The next nine years he worked at Standard Oil Company of Indiana, later to become Amoco. He began as a staff writer, spent one year as the editor of the company magazine, progressed to writing speeches for the top executives, and ultimately became Amoco's manager of creative services. Mr. Schoentgen's next professional home for more than 20 years was Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, where he became the head of communications and a vice president of the bank. During his tenure there, he created and wrote the first three issues of Coinage, what would become the bank's employee newspaper, and was the speech writer for the bank's top-level executives. During this time, he also was involved in numerous other projects. Included in these endeavors, he wrote speeches for multiple individuals in both the private and public sectors. He designed The Money Center, one of the first interactive, computerized museum exhibits for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. For several years he wrote a Christmas article for an Arthur Anderson Company publication. He was intermittently a guest lecturer in communication classes at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. As one of the first telecommuters with international access, he was interviewed for a segment about computers and technology in the changing world of business that aired on Walter Cronkite's television program, "Universe." From teaching himself to read as a preschooler through the Manhattan Project and bicentennial projects to the introduction of the computer age, Mr. Schoentgen kept reading, learning, and writing. Survivors include his wife of 68 years, the former Caryl Ione Benzer; two daughters, Pamela Jo Schoentgen and Marcy Jean Schoentgen, both of Flagstaff, Arizona; two grandchildren, Hanne Lora Schoentgen, of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Caleb Jason Peters of Madison, Wisconsin; and three great-granddaughters. A brief memorial service will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 15, at the Norvel Owens Mortuary, 914 E. Route 66, Flagstaff, Arizona. The family has requested no flowers. Memorials may be made to a charity close to your heart. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.norvelowensmortuary.com