William H Rausch

William H. "Bill" Rausch, age 73, a lifelong resident of Marengo, died on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at the Riverside Methodist Hospital following a brief illness. On October 16, 1949, Bill was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, the second of four children of the late Casper H. "Cap" and Joanne E. (Jordan) Rausch. He grew up on a small dairy farm, learning the value of hard work as soon as he was able. During high school, he also worked at Maxwell's Dairy in Cardington and Snyder's Milling in Marengo. He graduated from Highland High School in the class of 1967, where he played football, baseball, and excelled at basketball. During one of his basketball games against Mount Gilead High School, Bill unknowingly caught the eye of a student of the opposing team, Sharon Brock. Shortly thereafter, in October of 1967, Bill asked Sharon to dance during an event at the Civic Center in Mount Gilead where they danced the entire evening. The same night, he reported to his best friend, "I am going to marry this girl". From there, the rest is history. After a three-year courtship, Bill and Sharon were married on June 7, 1970, at the Alum Creek Friends Church. Together they shared nearly 53 years of marriage, and lovingly raised four children: Heather, April, Chrystal and William (aka "Billy"). Following high school, Bill helped his father manage the Rausch Gulf Station at St. Rt. 61 and I-71 in Marengo from 1967 to 1977. From there, he went to work at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Columbus, where he worked in nearly every position in production. After thirty plus years there, he retired in November of 2008. Despite working seven days a week, taking on every extra shift he could to provide for his family, week after week, and year after year, Bill still found time to be at everything for his four children. He co-founded the Marengo Youth Softball Association, making sure his daughters had the same opportunities to play sports as the boys. He coached his three girls' softball teams and later, youngest son's baseball teams for nearly twenty years. He also managed the junior high basketball scorer's table and game clock, and was an umpire for summer softball and baseball games for many years. As soon as retirement came, Bill took on his favorite role of being "Grandpa", aka "PaPaw". Bill and Sharon's lives then revolved around watching their grandchildren and making trips to Virginia to see Billy and his two kids. Whenever Bill was surrounded by his kids and grandkids, he would always find a way to get everyone to go on a family excursion for ice cream. Throughout Bill's life, he was a sports fanatic. He loved watching football, basketball, and baseball, and was a trivia expert about each sport. He was a huge Cincinnati Reds baseball fan, taking his family to many games over the years. He was a music aficionado, loving many genres of music, especially country, and he loved sharing and singing along to all those great tunes with his children and grandchildren. He loved his westerns, and his many canine companions they had over the years. Bill was a long-time attendee and former member of the Mount Gilead Glory Baptist Church. Bill was an incredibly devoted husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, and uncle, and for his family they all felt he was the best at each of those roles. He was beyond selfless, always sacrificing for everyone in his family. He was kind, thoughtful, and generous. He was very wise, and always kept up with current events in the news and politics. He always wanted the best for everyone and was the peacemaker whenever it was needed. He had a big, fun loving and outgoing personality, and never met a stranger. Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Sharon Rausch of Marengo; three children: April (Chris) Jackson of Sunbury, Chrystal (Curt) Smith of Mount Gilead, and William J. "Billy" Rausch of Alexandria, Virginia; four grandchildren: Christopher William Jackson, Cassidy Lynn Smith, Theodore Madoc and Josephine Elen Rausch; two step-grandchildren: Kristian René and Norman Christopher Jackson; two siblings: Richard "Dick" (Connie) Rausch of Robinson, Texas, and Mary Steele of Marengo; numerous nieces and nephews; and his extended Brock family. Including his parents, Bill was preceded in death by his daughter, Heather Leigh Rausch; infant granddaughter, Baby Sissy Smith; and a sister and brother-in-law, Joyce (Randy) Chandler. His family will greet friends from 4 – 7 pm on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Snyder Funeral Homes, 67 N. Main St., Mount Gilead. Services honoring his life will also be held there at 1 pm on Wednesday, with Pastors Jeff Deel and Aaron Beacom officiating. For those unable to attend, his services will be live-streamed via Snyder Funeral Homes, Craven Chapel, Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MtGileadSFH). The live feed will start appx. ten minutes prior to the start of the service. Burial will follow in Rivercliff Cemetery in Mount Gilead. His pallbearers will be Billy Rausch, Charles "Cappy" Chandler, Brian Rausch, Erick Rausch, Tanner Martin, Mason Martin, Travis Sanford, and Brock Moreland.