William Tapper Obituary

William "Bill" Tapper passed away on July 13, 2025.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Barbara; his two sons, J.R. (Helene) and Andrew (Kimberly); and his eight grandchildren, Ari, Talya (Alexander), Natan, Nissa, Coen, Brolle, Linnea, and Soren.

Bill was born April 17, 1943, and raised in Alexandria, Minnesota, the elder son of Ray and Irene Tapper. He survived polio at the age of five, receiving one of the first ever successful tracheotomy procedures at the University of Minnesota research hospital.

Bill loved building hot rods and spending time tinkering in his garage, he is best remembered by all as elbow deep in the guts of his beloved '41 Ford or '66 Buick (station wagon, white with turquoise accents), or his various other cars, boats, and motorcycles.

Bill served his country as a ROTC cadet during his education in mechanical engineering at NDSU. He then worked for Honeywell and later was responsible in part for creating the home microwave oven at Litton Industries in the late '60s. The family referred to the microwave as an "oven," and thoroughly confused teachers and friends for many years before they became more common.

Bill and family lived exactly one year outside of the upper Midwest, in Anniston, Alabama before concluding that he would not ever become a southern gentleman.

After their return to Minnesota, Bill settled in Deephaven, where he indulged in his passion for sailing until he decided that he was too old for that, so he took up the more sedate sport of sports car racing.

The last part of his career was spent at the cabinet manufacturing company, Genereux Fine Wood Products located in Monticello, Minnesota. He and Barb ran and grew the company for nearly 40 years until the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged him to retire.

Bill was active in Monticello business and civic organizations. His participation in the Monticello Economic Development Authority and the Monticello Industrial & Economic Development Committee contributed to the establishment of FiberNet and Block 52.

In lieu of flowers, donations to The Parkinson's Foundation would be appreciated (https://www.parkinson.org).