William J. Kouba, age 72. Rail Industry Expert. Passed away on Thursday, October 2, 2014 surrounded by his family after a long, courageous battle with cancer. Bill was born January 12, 1942 and was raised on the west side of Chicago. Bill married his wife of 23 years, Joan Maurey, in 1991. They lived in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago, where Bill would be seen regularly walking his dog Sophie, talking with friends and providing his unique style of advice.

Bill, known to many as "Box Car Bill", worked in the railroad industry for 51 years. His professional endeavors focused on leasing railroad equipment and inspecting and evaluating railroad equipment for economic value analysis and mechanical suitability. He started his career with the Pullman Standard Division of Pullman, Inc., where he ultimately served as VP of Sales for Domestic and International Equipment. Later in his career, Bill worked as a consultant to the railroad industry, where he specialized in inspecting and evaluating rail cars to be leased or sold. His experience and reputation was well known in his field, and his work took him to many remote areas of the country. He especially enjoyed talking with the people he would meet during his travels, and he routinely returned home with a good story or perspective about someone he met along the way.

As Billy Graham said "All my prayers have been answered except on the golf course." Bill too spent many days on the course trying to have his golf prayers answered. He was a lover of the sport and a natural teacher, taking great pride in providing advice and lessons to anyone who would listen. Bill was also a lover of history and current events, and spent hours discussing history, current events, and his unique perspective on both with his grandchildren. Those discussions will be greatly missed.

Bill attended Fenwick H.S. in Chicago and earned his B.S. degree from Marquette University. He was also a member of Holy Name Cathedral, where he ushered at 8:15 am mass every Sunday.

Bill is survived by his wife Joan (Maurey), children Jeanne (Ray) Hurley, Pamela (Mike) Rubey and Christine (Ernie) Hutchinson, grandchildren Morgan Mellske, Blake and Charley Rubey, and Matthew and Nicholas Hutchinson, brother Ken (Beth) Kouba, niece Jennifer (Rob) Jensen and nephew John Kouba. Bill is also survived by numerous other family and friends.

Visitation 1 pm on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 until the time of the 2 pm Funeral Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State St., Chicago, IL. Interment private.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Bill's memory may be made to the Priests Retirement And Mutual Aid Association, 4951 Harrison Street Hillside, IL 60162 or on-line at http://prmaa.org/

For further information please call 312-421-0936.