William A. Williamsen II

William Alan Williamsen, II (Bill), of Grand Rapids, Ohio, passed away on March 12, 2026 at age 77.

Bill was born on July 24, 1948 to Anabel (Kopp) and William Alan Williamsen. He grew up in Maumee, where he enjoyed outdoor activities with his parents and grandfather and formed many lifelong friendships.

After graduating from Maumee High School in 1966, Bill attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He soon began a long career as insurance adjustor with Crawford and Company in Toledo. At that time, he was the youngest adjustor in the Toledo area. His sharp mind and exacting work ethic soon earned him positions of greater responsibility, and in 1978 he established a branch office for Crawford and Co. in Sandusky, Ohio. In 1981, he returned to Toledo, where he became the manager of the company’s larger office, working in that position for the next ten years and creating relationships with colleagues and clients all over northwest Ohio. He served as President of the Toledo Claims Association 1987-88.

In 1991 he became an adjustor with German Mutual Insurance in Napoleon, specializing in property claims and continuing to expand his professional network and knowledge of rural northwest Ohio. He retired from German Mutual in 2011. Then, for the next 15 years, Bill consulted on insurance claims for Munger Company, LPA, working alongside attorney Pete Munger, his longtime friend and colleague.

In 1971 Bill met Susan T. Maples, a registered nurse. They married and spent the next 54 years together. Bill and Susan have two daughters, Amanda and Elizabeth. Bill taught them the value of hard work and passed on his love of learning. His older daughter is now a writer, and his younger daughter is a professor of English literature.

Bill was a constant reader with a remarkable memory. Archaeology, ornithology, and American history were a few of his many interests, but his particular favorite was Ohio history. He studied our state’s past, learning about its human inhabitants across many centuries. Further interests included military history and Great Lakes history, especially shipwrecks. He loved the music of old blues and bluegrass artists few people have ever heard of. His wide range of knowledge made him a master of crossword puzzles and an unbeatable opponent in any game of trivia.

All his life, Bill enjoyed being outdoors. The annual Williamsen and Kopp morel-hunting trip to northern Michigan was an important family tradition that he maintained from his childhood into his adult life. He loved the Maumee River and spending time on its banks with family and friends, watching the change of seasons. For him, the Fourth of July fireworks could only be appreciated properly from a seat on the riverbank across from Fort Meigs. He took his daughters on boat rides along the Maumee, teaching them the names of birds, turtles, and trees, and how to understand the river. Every spring he’d walk the newly plowed furrows of cornfields searching for upturned arrowheads and other flint tools. This lifelong passion began when he found his first arrowhead at eight years old. His collector’s motto was “always found, never bought.”

Bill was predeceased by his father, William Alan Williamsen I and his beloved aunt, Janice Williamsen Cary. He is survived by his wife Susan, his mother Anabel Kopp Williamsen Stubbs (age 98), sister Patricia and brother-in-law Ed, daughter Elizabeth, daughter Amanda and son-in-law Brad, and grandchildren Nolan and Cordelia.

A Celebration of Life memorial will be held for family and friends. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the American Cancer Society or Ohioans Home Health & Hospice