William Bill Rinke, July 18, 1948 — March 02, 2019

William “Bill” Lee Rinke, 70, of Aurora, formerly of Grand Island passed away on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at Westfield Quality Care in Aurora, NE. A gathering of family and friends will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday at All Faiths Funeral Home. A memorial service will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

His ashes will be buried at a later date. Bill was born July 18, 1948 in Grand Island, the son of Elmer and Leona (Goehring) Rinke. He grew up and received his education in Grand Island, graduating from Grand Island Senior High with the Class of 1966.

He then graduated from Central Nebraska Tech College in 1968 in Hastings and went on to attend UNL. Bill was employed by Century Mfg. Co. in Aurora as a tool and die machinist and draftsman for many years until the company was closed.

He helped design a “birthing chair”, “whirlpool baths” and several other fiberglass items. He had even designed and built his own fiberglass speed boat and redesigned the body for his 1923 T-Bucket roadster. Bill then started a small printing and T-shirt company, Decade Industries, in which he printed T-shirts to sell at SD Sturgis.

He was a member of the Island Area Cruisers and had past memberships with the FOE Eagles club, Tri City Street Rods, National Street Rod Association, American Society of Tool and Manufacturing Engineers and the NRA. He loved classic and muscle cars, known to be a “Ford Man”, street rods, motorcycles, SD Sturgis Rallies, car and bike shows, guns of all kinds, gun shows, wildlife exhibits, hunting and fishing and auctions. He was a very likable “Santa” type of a person that loved to make children laugh and play.

He also liked to repair broken toys for kids. After his retirement he spent a lot of cherished time with his Uncle “Herk” and family and friends. He took several hunting and fishing trips to Canada and across the USA and many vacation trips with his brother’s family to Branson, MO and a cruise to the Western Caribbean.

Those left to cherish his memory include his older brother, Alvin (Sharon) Rinke; nieces, Jean (Brian) Cook and Debra Rinke; and numerous cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents; grandparents, Robert & Elizabeth (Wendt) Rinke and William and Clara (Rohweder) Goehring; and many aunts and uncles. Memorials are suggested to the family to be designated at a later date.

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