Herman "Bud" Steagall, age 99, a proud WWII US Navy Veteran, passed away on Saturday, August 19, 2023.  He was born March 2, 1924 in Evergreen Township, Wisconsin to William & Martha Steagall. As a child, Bud worked on the farm, milking cows, clearing fields and fishing in trout streams.  At the age of 19, he enlisted in the Naval Air and became a top turret gunner and radioman (morse code) in a B-24 flying over the Pacific Theater. After the war, he availed himself of the GI bill, going to high school and college concurrently in Antigo, Wisconsin. He moved to Chicago where he completed his mechanical engineering degree and met Arlette Sitter. They met on a blind date and while walking behind a bus, a service truck struck him and knocked him down face first into a puddle of water. Over visits to the hospital to see him, they fell in love. What's not to love? He was a good dancer, a great cook and a really good human being. After college, he moved his growing family to Elmhurst, Illinois, where he raised his 3 children. Some of the last buildings he engineered the steel frame for were St. Francis High School and the Hamilton in Schaumburg. After retirement, he moved into Beacon Hill, Lombard and after Mom's passing, to Winfield to live with his daughter. He always absolutely loved children and would make chocolate shakes and play with us during the evenings when Mom was at work. Always involved in his church, Bud was an usher and organized perpetual adoration at Visitation Church in Elmhurst. A man of faith, he believed he experienced the miracle of the dancing Sun while at Medjugorje with his wife. At Beacon Hill, he could often be found playing cards with different groups or ordering and stocking shelves in the small store within the building. He believed in his faith, his family and his country.

He is survived by his two sons Mark (Michele) Steagall of Maple Park, IL and Keith (Milen) Steagall of Las Vegas, NV; his daughter Cynthia (John) Paulsen of Winfield, IL; his grandchildren Andrea (the late Dan) Thompson, Scott (Tanya) Paulsen, Lauren (Tim) Kroscher, Jessica (Josh) Lawrence, Lindsay Paulsen, Corinne (Andy) Pech, and Lana (Wojciech "Albert") Bratko; as well as 10 great-grandchildren. Also survived by many nieces & nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Arlette; his great-granddaughter Kayden; and his thirteen siblings.

A visitation will be held on Friday, August 25, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187. Relatives & friends are invited to meet directly at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 0S233 Church St, Winfield, IL 60190, on Saturday, August 26, 2023, for a Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. Entombment with Military Honors will follow at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, IL.

Family and friends may sign a guest book at hultgrenfh.com. For more information, please call Hultgren Funeral Home at 630-668-0027.