Ray William "Bill" Delamotte

Ray W. Delamotte, 85, of Van Wert passed away April 14, 2024. He was born December 30, 1938 in Toledo Ohio, to the late Cornelius and Margaret (Thompson) Delamotte.

Many knew Ray as Bill, however those college football bros remember him as Gumba (Bill's nod to his Italian immigrant ancestor Jacob Delamotte who immigrated from Emilia Romagna, Italy. Bill was extremely proud of his Italian heritage).

Some understood him to be Herb Sterdly, while of course, others remember him as Dad.

Bill was a very colorful man, enjoying the finer things in life, such as world travel (with two of his favorite places being Guam and Japan), expensive homes, fancy meals, scuba diving, and women.

Yes indeed, Bill was quite the ladies man. In fact I'm sure there are some broken hearts reading this obituary right now, weeping over Bill's unexpected passing.

On a serious note, Bill was exceedingly charming, readily making friends wherever his excursions led him. As a physical therapist with Masters by profession, he had a propensity for mixing his working life alongside his personal life, befriending many doctors, nurses, sports medicine therapists, college football players, wrestlers and boxers, resulting in quite the interesting upbringing for his children.

If you were fortunate enough to know Bill, you more than likely witnessed his stoic type of delight when it came to helping others heal, whether it be the elderly, the sports bros, family, or friends, he was always happy to grab his ultrasound, electrotherapy pads, Ace bandages, and DMSO. He would even stop whatever he was doing to help wild animals found in nature if they looked as though they needed tending to (what would one expect of someone who had as among his various pets, a raccoon and baby shark), he was even known to have performed emergency micro surgeries for them!

In Bill's personal recreation time, one could find him golfing, dancing, reading, swimming, riding his motorcycle, lifting weights (how many 70 year old Gold Gym personal trainers are there out there), working with his dogs, and listening to Rush Limbaugh (his favorite talk radio host).

Naturally a fighter, heralding from a long line of boxers in his paternal linage, (with his father being a golden gloves champion), Bill won many battles, not all of them being in the ring, as twice over while in his elderly years at the age of 81 and again aged 85, he fought Sepsis, Bacterial Pneumonia, RSV and Covid 19 coming out victorious! What a champion!

Unfortunately while in the cage with his genetic Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency rearing its ugly head, circumstances occurred causing Bill to lose the ultimate fight. For this reason in lieu of gifts, the family is asking that persons please become educated with awareness regarding treatments and medications involving those living with natural COPD (Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency), and would prefer contributions be given to the Alpha-1 FOUNDATION.

Bill will especially be forever loved by his youngest child, (as she cared for him in her home for the past six years of his life, until his sudden death outside of her care), who would give the world in order to have had the last hug good bye, to have had the fortune of speaking the words for him to hear, "I love you dad, more than you could ever realize."

Surviving are six children, Nic, Derek, Bill, Brigitte, Julie, and Jennifer; fifteen grandchildren, Dylan, Jessie, Ava, Gracie, Luke, Ella, Anna, Willow, Autumn, Elish, Yaddo, Leif, Oden, Ingiridr, and Charlotte; and one great grandchild, Maximilian.

In addition to his parents, Bill was preceded in death by two siblings, Jim and Betsy; and two wives, Nancy Lee and Estelle Marie.

Private family services will be held at a later date.

Online condolences may be shared at www.alspachgearhart.com.

Services have been entrusted to Alspach Gearhart Funeral Home, 722 South Washington Street, Van Wert, Ohio 45891.