Family Stands In for Bill Spelz Who Died Before Leo Hall of Fame Induction

CHICAGO, IL -- Bill Spelz was “so excited” and “so looking forward to” his induction into the Leo High School Hall of Fame Friday. A call from his maker took precedence over the call from the hall for long-time Mount Greenwood resident William “Bill” Spelz. He will buried the very morning he was scheduled for induction. The Spelz family plans to be in attendance at Friday’s Leo banquet and daughter Kathy Pranske is scheduled to walk the stage and accept his honor.

Spelz, 87, led Leo to Lightweight City basketball championships in 1948 and 1949, after being cut his freshman and sophomore years. Irish Christian Brother Francis Finch spotted something in Spelz’ intramural play and ordered him to report to the third-floor gym in his school uniform. Nerves got the better of him, and it was missed layup after missed layup before Finch told him to go home and return to practice the next day in basketball trunks.

Spelz practiced with the team the rest of his sophomore year but was unable to play in games because he hadn’t met the height requirement to play in the varsity league. He rebounded his junior and senior years at Leo, where Splez’ point guard play earned him a spot on Loras College’s varsity basketball team, but with the draft looming, he opted to enlist in the Navy.

A member of IBEW 134 for more than 50 years, Spelz worked radio dispatch for the Chicago Police Department for 34 years. Spelz and his wife Marlene raised their children Kathy, Bill and Denise in the community. Bill remained active in Mount Greenwood coaching basketball and baseball.

The owner of a “billion baseball caps” the Leo model was “the one he always grabbed.” Spelz regarded his Leo experience and the mentoring of Finch as the quality that “allowed him to persevere throughout his life.”

“My dad’s voice cracked when he mentioned Brother Finch,” said Pranske.

A devoted family man, he used his electrician skills and self-taught carpentry prowess to trick out the basement in this home at 111th and Saint Louis. The tile floor proved the perfect dance floor. An only child, the son of German and Irish immigrants, Spelz’ basement creation was designed to keep his family close and safe. A marvelous dancer, his children’s friends would draw him downstairs to dance. Spelz and daughter Kathy placed first in the Jitterbug Dance Contest at Mother McAuley his daughter’s freshman and senior years.

“I’m going to miss my dad as a dance partner at weddings,” said Pranske.

Spelz penchant for parties led to the annual “Senior Citizen’s Christmas Party” in which attendees had to be 55 and over for admission. Spelz’ son Bill and his two daughters were servers, providing mostly “shots and beers” while his older aunts, uncles and his many cousins – some in their 90s – danced and sang. In 2003, Spelz’ wife Marlene died suddenly of a heart attack.

“Dad was a tough guy with an incredible threshold for pain, but we knew he was taking it hard,” said Pranske.

Sports were Spelz’ perfect outlet. A committed baseball and basketball coach during the late 1960’s and 70’s, the Bears season ticket holder focused his teaching and coaching on his grandchildren.

On Sunday mornings, Spelz would pick up his Pranske granddaughters – Jillian, Meredith and Lauren – for mass and then shooting practice at Mount Greenwood Park’s gym, a short walk from his beloved Saint Christina parish and his home.

“The girls would say, ‘Really Mom, 8 o’clock,’” said Pranske. “But they went every Sunday and loved it. Fifty free throws each.”

Granddaughter Jillian played at Loras as well and the picture of the two hoopsters together on campus had Spelz “in all his glory.”

When Spelz got news of his induction into the Leo Hall of Fame, he humbly argued that “others were more worthy” than he, but as the date neared, old group photos of banquet past came out, as well as old clippings.

Last year Spelz missed the 2016 Leo banquet, the first absence anyone can remember. The Leo alumni will all recall his last absence.

~ Contributed by Bill Figel

COVER PHOTO: Bill Spelz (bottom, left) after 1949 Leo basketball championship with Coach Brother Francis Finch on right.