Bill Lang quit his job as a charter pilot and gave up all but a few rooms in his Prospect Heights home to caring for injured wildlife.
Visitors often were greeted by a tub of ducklings, a deer wandering out of a bedroom or cages containing a bat and a red-tailed hawk, said friend John Hagan. Mr. Lang saved thousands of injured and orphaned animals through his Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation.
Mr. Lang, 56, died Thursday, April 4, after suffering a heart attack in the Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center, where he had brought an injured owl for a checkup.
Mr. Lang ran the charity out of his house, where he lived surrounded by the animals he had nursed back to health for eventual return to the wild. He would pick up the injured animals, get them medical treatment, then rehabilitate them with a network of volunteers, said Dr. Peter S. Sakas of the Niles Animal Hospital, who served on the board of Wildlife Rescue, founded in 1989.
The charity also offered educational talks, put out a newsletter and operated a Web site with tips on caring for wild animals.
Prospect Heights code enforcement officer Steve Skiber delivered animals, including baby squirrels found in air-conditioning ducts and injured geese, into Mr. Lang’s care. “He never refused any request,” Skiber said. “Bill would come out at any hour of the day.”
Mr. Lang started by taking in strays, then began rehabilitating wildlife, said his brother, Harry.
“He didn’t want to see any animal suffer, so it started just almost as a little hobby and just grew into the wildlife rescue,” his brother said. “He quit flying, and he turned his whole house and his money and resources into rehabilitating injured animals.”
Mr. Lang returned to flying a few years ago after his funds started running out, and kept working part time with animals, his brother said. He was laid off in the aftermath of Sept. 11 and returned full time to rescue work.
“I think he felt by working with wildlife he could make a difference,” said Sakas, who plans to establish a memorial scholarship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for veterinary students interested in working with wildlife. All the animals in Mr. Lang’s care have been placed in other rehabilitation facilities, Sakas said.
In a 1992 Tribune interview, Mr. Lang said suburban development gobbling up open space was unfair to animals. “We are going into their space more each year, and they are suffering for it,” he said.
In addition to his brother, Mr. Lang also is survived by a sister, Michelle Petty.
A memorial visitation will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Friedrichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Rd., Mt. Prospect, followed by a 7 p.m. service.
