William Harold Englehart, 79, a World War II veteran who was a prisoner of war in Germany, died Friday, Jan. 17, in Stuart, Fla., of a heart attack. A longtime resident of Geneva, Mr. Englehart began spending his winters in Florida in 1990. A fighter pilot during the war, Mr. Englehart served as a first lieutenant in the Army Air Forces. He was a bombardier navigator on a B-17, known as a “flying fortress” because it had guns on all sides. He flew about 20 combat missions before he was shot down over Germany in 1944. He spent 10 months in a Nazi prison, said his brother John. “When he got home, he gave us the whole story and when he was finished, which was sometime in the morning, he said he never wanted to talk about it again,” his brother said. “He was lucky to get out of there because they really didn’t feed them. He weighed about 125 pounds when he came home.” After the war, Mr. Englehart attended the University of Notre Dame and graduated in 1949 with a degree in business. He was a sales representative for a few years and then went into business with his brother producing foam peanuts used for packaging and distributing them in the Northlake area, his brother said. Mr. Englehart was seen as a leader by his family members and devoted to his church. “He was a man full of wisdom and a strong head of the family,” said Laura Englehart, his daughter-in-law. “He was a very Christian man who not only practiced his faith but lived his faith.” Mr. Englehart is also survived by his wife of 51 years, Joanne; two daughters, Laura and Mary Kortendick; two sons, William Jr. and Robert; a sister, Mary Lou Bachner; and nine grandchildren. Visitation is scheduled from 3 until 9 p.m. Tuesday in Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Rd., Wheaton. Services will begin at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday in the funeral home. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. in St. Daniel the Prophet Church, 101 W. Loop Rd., Wheaton.
