‘Helping others brought him joy’: Family, friends remember Bill Clancy of town of Holland

TOWN OF HOLLAND — They gathered at the table in the southern Brown County farmhouse where their father had lived for his 87 years, and where they had grown to adulthood, to share memories of the man who had raised them.

Retired dairy farmer and elected official Bill Clancy died Oct. 23, about two months after having turned 87.

Clancy had remained active in public life in his final year. He continued to serve his Syble Hopp School — attending a Syble Hopp meeting via Zoom the week of his death, his family recalled. He was Town of Holland clerk for 56 years before choosing not to seek reelection in 2021; he also served 30 years on the County Board before opting not to run in 2018.

His passionate support for Syble Hopp — where he was known not as “Mr. Clancy,” but as “our friend, Bill” — was something his children underscored in the gathering at the family home on Old Route 57 near the new county landfill. Syble Hopp was one of a handful of organizations Clancy would encourage people to support, financially, after he had sung at one of their relatives’ funerals and they had offered to pay him for his services.

“Helping others brought him joy,” said Rob Clancy, the youngest of 10 children that Bill and his wife, Shirley, raised.

Other Clancy children echoed their father’s joy in helping others in the community. Clancy family Christmas customs included loading — and daughter Heather emphasizes loading — multiple shopping carts at a nearby Aldi store to donate to a Christmas food drive for community members who were less fortunate.

“‘Generous’ does not adequately explain our dad,” Heather Clancy said, as multiple heads nodded around the table.

Bill Clancy certainly left an impression on the people who represented him in elective office.

Brown County Supervisor Bill Clancy, who retired from the County Board on March 21, 2018, receives an award from Board Chairman Patrick Moynihan for Clancy’s 30 years of service.

“He was a proud husband and father, driven to serve his community while being grounded in his faith” said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach. “Bill greeted everyone with a smile that could light up a room. He was a true community champion. Bill continues to hold a special place in my heart due to his support of me when I was first elected. He didn’t speak often, but when he did, people listened.”

“He was an honest guy,” said former Holland Chairman Jerry Wall, a close friend of Clancy’s. “When I was town chair for 44 years, he was town clerk for 56.”

Bill Clancy and presidential candidate Bill Clinton laugh after a rendition of “Danny Boy” during Clinton’s 1992 campaign visit to Clancy’s town of Holland farm.

Still, life was not without challenges for the senior Clancy. Daughter Patty Clancy-Gurgel recalls their father suffering a broken back in his 20s; another family member recalls Bill suffering an injury common to on dairy farms, broken toes, after he slipped in a manure pit and his foot was crushed by a piece of machinery, though his family could not recall who drove him to the hospital for repairs.

Bill Clancy was known throughout the county for his support of Democratic political candidates; He hosted an appearance in 1992 by then presidential candidate Bill Clinton; Clancy considered it a badge of honor that a future president had used his bathroom. (He and Clinton also demonstrated their saxophone-playing skills together, and Clinton joked to the audience that Clancy “has about 48 kids.”)

Town of Holland farmer Bill Clancy, left, and town supervisor Michael Geiger stand outside the gates of a proposed landfill on June 27, 2007, on County IL. The proposed landfill property abutted Clancy’s farm fields on two sides.

Clancy also was happy to spend time engaging with others. Daughter Carry Clancy, who referred to Bill Clancy “our magnificent dad,” posted a video of Clinton’s appearance at the Clancy farm on YouTube; a number of people from outside Wisconsin found Clancy’s listed telephone number, called, and they and Clancy would discuss the presidential election at length.

That briefly frustrated some of his children.

“I was kind of sad we had to share him (with others),” said daughter Bridget Clancy. But she also enjoyed that her father was beloved in households outside her own.

His children also learned from their father to appreciate quality in simple things about life.

“Some of the best discussions ‘floated around’ the booyah kettle,” son Tom would recall Bill Clancy saying, citing talk about “roads, weather, milk prices, and your family’s health.”

Contact Doug Schneider at DSchneid@Gannett.com, call him at (920) 589-0809 and follow him on X formerly Twitter @PGDougSchneider

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Family, friends recall Bill Clancy of town of Holland in Brown County