William DeFotis obituary

William (Bill) Constantine DeFotis, esteemed professor emeritus and retired Associate Dean of Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), took his last breath peacefully in December 2023 at home in his library, surrounded by his books and his beloved family. Bill was 92 years old. 

William DeFotis was a man of deep faith who was intellectually curious, loved nature, and marveled at both the technological and artistic triumphs of humankind. He was a voracious reader and avid storyteller who found deep pleasure in the presence of others and in the pages of a great book. Bill was the youngest son of Argiro (nee Vozikis) and Constantine DeFotis, Greek immigrants who met in Illinois. Bill was born an American by derivation in Methoni, Greece, and came as a baby to Chicago with his four older, American-born brothers, the departed George (Effie), Nick (Leona), Cleo and Peter (Patricia). 

Bill DeFotis' accomplishments came to fruition with the steady support of his wife of 63 years, Melpomene. They met on a double date during a trip to New York City and looked outward together in the same direction. They quoted a Greek philosophy for life: “Παν μέτρων άριστον” meaning “everything in moderation." They raised two accomplished daughters, Dimitra DeFotis and Andrea Edwards (Steven C.), and led a life filled with travel, culture and many dear friends. He relished time with his beloved grandsons William and Elliott playing chess, exploring nature, and building model trains. 

With his academic accomplishments, baseketball prowess, powerful spirit, curly hair and hazel eyes, William DeFotis was elected class president at Tuley High School (now Clemente) in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, which he described with great fondness. 

Bill came of age after the Great Depression as World War II ended and was the only one of his siblings to earn a college degree. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Engineering, he served in the US Army for two years and then earned a graduate degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. 

Following in the footsteps of his father, a Greek language teacher and machinist in Chicago, Bill initially combined his exceptional communications talent and mechanical engineering knowledge as a professor at the Navy Pier campus of the University of Illinois. Then at the new UIC campus, he was instrumental in promoting the quality of the UIC College of Engineering in a newsletter he edited and in the accreditation process. As an associate dean in the College, he focused on academic administration and counseled thousands of students on their career paths in technology. He retired after nearly 40 years at UIC but continued to teach his favorite course on the history of engineering for years thereafter. A skilled writer, Bill was commissioned to pen the history of UIC College of Engineering. 

He also took great pleasure in serving on the History and Heritage Committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, with which he helped landmark impactful mechanical engineering achievements across the United States. He was thrilled to speak at the dedication of the Hughes Flying Boat, the "Spruce Goose," which he said epitomized the true definition of "awesome."

William DeFotis walked every day to the train and the University, loved to hike in the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson, Arizona and calculated that over the decades, he had traveled roughly 30,000 miles on foot. He attributed his good health and longevity to walking, gardening, a simple life that included a lot of reading, a loving family, a small circle of good friends, and a steady Greek-Mediterranean diet with bread, salad, and wine or beer accompanying the main course every night. But he also loved a good Italian sub sandwich, chocolate shakes and mints, shortbread cookies, baklava and homemade fruit pies.

During his working life and in retirement, Bill was dedicated to the Orthodox Church and to the expanded use of English in services. He was Sunday School Director at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Des Plaines, Illinois, and supported spiritual renewal efforts and was a deacon-in-training at Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church in Glenview, Illinois. With his wife, he supported the Holy Dormition Orthodox Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan, where she held iconography workshops and he helped edit the writings of Abbot Fr. Roman Braga, of blessed memory.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the family to plant trees in honor of William DeFotis or to Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church in Glenview, Illinois, would be appreciated. A forty-day memorial service was held in January 2024 at Sts. Peter & Paul. Funeral arrangements by Memory Eternal Funeral Directors, Ltd. (847) 375-0095.

May his memory be eternal. Αιωνία του η μνήμη.

Good paradise. Καλό παράδεισο.