Oak Forest's 'Bill The Band' Suffers Stroke While Mourning Partner

OAK FOREST, IL — Bill Ehm knew how to make any room his stage. The multi-instrument musician could whip out his guitar or pull a harmonica up to his mouth, and magic would happen. He spent years playing in different bands, across many genres, but his family says his heart usually landed on Blues.

The lifelong Oak Forest resident later became one-man show "Bill the Band," hitting the classic "supper club" scene playing across the south suburbs at such spots like Traverso's, House of Hughes, Casto's and Jack Gibbons Gardens, to name a few. But his ultimate billing spanned 30 years, as he appeared at different nursing homes and assisted living facilities around the south suburbs, taking residents back in time with classics their ears couldn't deny.

Ehm's family now find themselves facing quieter times, as the 71-year-old—who has lived in the same house on LeClaire Avenue since he was 9 years old—suffered two substantial blows, first the death of his longtime partner Barb on Oct. 9, then a stroke just over a week later. Ehm had been with Barb for nearly 40 years, with the last several devoted to caring for her.

"Since Barb passed, it’s been very difficult for him," said Ehm's son-in-law Bob Bartkowski. "He devoted all his time and energy toward taking care of her. Even with dealing with his own health issues, he always wanted to make sure Barb was taken care of."

Ehm's health seemed to falter in the week after his wife's death, but he shooed away concerns, saying he was just tired.

"He’d done a lot, he’d been through a lot," Bartkowski said. "He had been out and about more in that last week than he had in the last few months, we attributed it to him being run-down."

But several days later, it was decided he needed to go to the hospital, where they determined he'd had a stroke. He has been there for almost two weeks.

While Ehm's daughter Christy mourns the loss of her mother, she is also trying to arrange for long term care for her father, who Bartkowski says is also an Oak Forest historian. As Bartkowski is also an Oak Forest history buff, the two are kindred souls in that way.

"He is a repository of Oak Forest information, and me being an Oak Forest history geek myself, I like to pick his brain," Bartkowski said.

"Bill and I would go off on tangents on the phone, it would drive my wife nuts because we’d turn it into an hour-long phone call," he said, laughing. "It was really cool."

He has admired his wife's relationship with her parents, and envied the love the couple shared.

"He doted on Barb," Bartkowksi said, "always took care of her, always made sure she was comfortable. I never saw ‘em argue. She was a sweet lady. She always wanted everyone to be happy, everything to be okay, just a very gentle, sweet, overall just purely good person."

You'd see the change come over them.

— Bob Bartkowski, of Bill Ehm's effect on an audience

Ehm's visits to different facilities were moving, Bartkowski said, and something that clearly combined Ehm's loves for music and helping people.

"It’s so heartwarming to see, I get choked up just thinking about it," Barkowski recalled. "I’ve seen residents ... you’d see the change come over them, see their eyes light up, they’d sit up.

"It’s really amazing to see that. … You could tell that he did what he did because of his absolute passion in music, but also he believed in what he was doing in sharing that with people in those communities."

Ehm had a favorite guitar—"Old Blue"—that shared the spotlight with him in many shows.

"Their eyes light up from songs from 60 years ago," Bartkowski said, of the residents' reactions. "I’ve personally seen that happen."

Bartkowski and Christy are now hoping others who have shared in Ehm's love of music — maybe even enjoyed his artistry over a meal — will help the family support him in his recovery. They'll seek to move him to a facility closer to them, in Mahomet, Illinois, Bartkowski said. They've started a GoFundMe in his name.

Bartkowski and Christy hope Ehm can begin to heal, and perhaps find comfort in hearing blues or jazz play nearby.

"The power of a memory can cut through any issues they have going on," Bartkowski said, referring to Bill's previous audiences. "That’s what I saw Bill tap into when he would play."

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