William John "Bill" Motz

1933 - 2020  (87 years)

• Name	William John "Bill" Motz
  Born	1933	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-142198
  Died	5 Nov 2020	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I142198	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	John E. Motz,   b. 29 Mar 1909, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1975  (Age 65 years)
  Mother	Mary Stoody,   b. 1912,   d. 1967  (Age 55 years)
  Family ID	F58726	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Doreen
  Last Modified	12 Nov 2024
  Family ID	F10096	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Bill Motz remembered as quiet, cheerful and generous By Terry PenderRecord Reporter KITCHENER\emdash William "Bill" Motz was the last of four generations to work at the family-owned newspaper that became the Waterloo Region Record. Bill was 87 when he died peacefully at St. Mary's General Hospital Nov. 5 after a brief illness. He is survived by: his wife of 62 years, Doreen; his son John; four grandchildren; brother Paul; and sisters Margaret and Ann. He was predeceased by his son Tom, who died suddenly in June, and his siblings, George, John and Rosemary. Bill is remembered as a family man who shared his love of travel with his children and grandchildren, a cheerful co-worker at the Record and a classical music lover. He was among the last of the four generations to work at the newspaper. Bill's great-grandfather, John Motz, came to Waterloo County in 1848 and was co-founder in 1859 of Rittinger and Motz Ltd., publishers of the German-language weekly Berliner Journal and a group of other German-language papers in Western Ontario. The family bought many papers that were consolidated into what eventually became this newspaper. "Bill was a very modest, quiet, unassuming guy," said Wayne MacDonald, a former Record publisher, who worked with Bill for many years. "I don't think a day went by that I didn't see him with a vinyl LP of some classical music, he adored it," said MacDonald. "He was on the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony board for years." Bill retired from the Waterloo Region Record after his family sold its 52-per-cent share in the paper to Southam in 1990 for $90 million. Before that, he was the editor of the op-ed page and the letters to the editor. Bill selected quirky stories for the op-ed pages, and always drove a Volkswagen, MacDonald recalled. In 1973, the Record moved from the building at Queen Street North and Duke Street to a newly constructed building on Fairway Road. Bill came into the empty downtown newsroom on Queen Street, and wrote "Goodbye" on the windows using shaving cream. He wrote the letters backwards so passersby could easily read them. "I can picture him running around the newsroom with these spraycans, writing the 'goodbye,'" said Macdonald. "For Bill that was a really unusual moment, that's why I remember it." After retiring, Bill and Doreen loved to travel. Their grandchildren joined them on some trips. "I think that was the most important thing in his life, his family," said Liz Motz, his daughter-in-law. Her husband, Tom Motz, died suddenly in June. One of Bill's grandchildren, Chris, fell in love with the United Kingdom, eventually completing his undergraduate and master's degrees there. "Bill Motz Remembered As Quiet, Cheerful And Generous". 2020. Therecord.Com. https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2020/11/08/bill-motz-remembered-as-quiet-cheerful-and-generous.html. _______________ Bill was born into the Motz newspaper family, which had been in the newspaper business in Waterloo Region since 1859, and owned The Record (now the Waterloo Region Record) from 1918 until it was sold in 1989. He was raised to be a newspaperman, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a communication degree in 1958, after which he worked at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in Toronto, moving to the Kitchener-Waterloo Record in 1960. Bill worked in the newsroom at the Record until retirement, after the paper was sold, and was the last member of the Motz family to be employed there. Bill's career as a journalist was in line with his life-long passion for world news. he was always ready to engage in a discussion about politics and world affairs and had a deep knowledge and understanding of history and current events. His interest in politics was such that some of the last discussions he had with visitors, in the days before he died, were about the recent U.S. election and how he hoped things would go well, for the sake of the country. Bill had many hobbies and interests throughout his life. He was passionate about music, especially classical music and was a life-time supporter of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra as an audience member, donor and as a board member for several years in the 1990's. He took up clarinet lessons for the first time in his 60's, after retirement, and became a proficient player. He loved travel and was a prolific photographer, producing thousands of slides from his travels, as well as local subjects. A photographic tinkerer, he made his own equipment for stereo photography which produced astonishing 3D images. Although progressive in many ways, Bill was an "analog man" when it came to media, favouring film photography over digital, vinyl LP records over CD's and digital downloads and hardcopy newspapers and books over electronic versions right to the end. Bill was a philanthropist, supporting many causes in the arts, education and healthcare , including the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Stratford Festival, the Kitchener Public Library, Conestoga College, St. Mary's Hospital and Hospice of Waterloo Region. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218709936/william-john-motz

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1933 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 5 Nov 2020 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth