William George Dritlein

William (Bill) George Dritlein, 77, of Olathe, Kansas, passed away on Saturday, June 14, 2025. He was born on October 29, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois to Warren and Marjorie (Crockatt) Dritlein.

Bill is survived by his children, Dana (David) Nolte, Michael (Marisa) Dritlein, Jamie (Derrick) Patton; grandchildren, Brooke (Jared) Nance, Drake Patton, Julia Patton, Jillian Patton, Solana (Bridget) Severs, Miranda Nolte, Brylie Dritlein, Addison Dritlein, and Reid Dritlein; great-granddaughters, Keira, Naya, and Scarlett; brothers, Ron (Chris) Dritlein and Tom (Sherry) Dritlein; sisters-in-law, Carole (Randy) Northway, Lynne (Tim) Davis, and Amy (Kevin) Spangelo; as well as many nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

Bill grew up in the Chicago, Illinois area with his parents and brothers. Bill loved the holidays, especially spending time with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He attended Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois and went on to attend the University of Iowa to play football. While at Iowa, Bill met Claudia in December 1969 and married in May 1970. Bill knew Claudia was the one right away and started asking her to marry him within a month after they were dating. Once married, Bill and Claudia moved to Des Moines, Iowa where they had their first child in 1972. Bill was transferred to the Kansas City area in 1973, where they had two more children and lived the rest of his life.

Bill’s outgoing personality and never-met-a-stranger personality led to a successful career in sales. He worked in food sales at both Oscar Mayer and CPC International. Eventually, he started his own successful pallet business, where he finished his career. Bill loved sports from an early age, following the Chicago Bears, Cubs and Blackhawks. Once he moved to the Kansas City area, he became a huge Chiefs and Royals fan, and even held season tickets to the Kansas City Kings NBA team back in the day. He was blessed to attend many Super Bowls, World Series, and other significant professional sporting events. He also enjoyed watching his children and grandchildren play sports. He was an avid golfer, cherishing the certificate he received for his hole in one. Bill cherished traveling with his wife and considered himself fortunate to have visited many remarkable places around the world. On several occasions, he even brought the entire family along to share in the experience. Providing for his loved ones was something Bill always took great pride in.

Bill was was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Claudia (Roberts) Dritlein, both of his parents Warren and Marge Dritlein, his father and mother in-law Larkin and Barbara Roberts and three nephews, Scott Dritlein, Nick Northway, and Kevin Farwell.

A Celebration of Life ceremony and reception will be held on Saturday, August 30 from 1:00-4:00 pm at Bill’s favorite local hangout, Austin’s Bar & Grill, 2103 E 151st St, Olathe, KS 66062. Please join us as we toast the life of our party. Wear your favorite sports apparel and bring your stories to share. He was quite the character.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Bill’s memory be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org. The Alzheimer’s Association leads the way in efforts to end Alzheimer’s and all other types of dementia.

To leave a special message for his family or to share a memory of Bill, please visit the guestbook below.