William Derence, III

With grieving hearts, we announce that William ‘Bill’ Derence III has suddenly passed away on Monday, September 28th, 2026. He is reunited with his parents, William and Ann Derence, and survived by his sister, LuAnn; his daughters, Sheri and Jaclyn; grandsons, Donovan, Brayden, Maddox, and Greyson; and his great-grandsons, Bowen and Matheus. 

William ‘Bill’ Derence III was born to William Jr. and Ann Derence on July 28th,1943. He spent most of his life living in Pittsburgh where he graduated from Perry Traditional Academy before leaving for the Army. Bill spent the early 1960’s serving inside the Demilitarized Zone of Korea as a part of the 1st Cavalry Division. As a civilian, Bill lived in the fast lane racking up trophies at local car racing tracks in his younger days, then began restoring muscle cars; ending up with him proudly owning over 125 cars during his lifetime. Bill performed a variety of careers throughout the years including driving buses and trains, he built houses, became a store owner, and he was a sought after carpet installer for high profile clients creating custom carpeting designs for their homes and businesses. There was nothing he couldn’t build himself spending many all nighters in his garage putting the finishing touches on his latest projects. He played the accordion and the piano entirely by ear, and even built a soundproof music studio for his daughters who played guitar and drums. Bill was a hardworking man that provided for his family leaving a piece of his outgoing personality with everyone he met along the way. His driveway was never short of visitors or neighborhood kids stopping to say hello, which says everything about who he was. Our family is deeply saddened by this unexpected loss and our lives will truly not be the same without him.