William Lorel Wilham

William (Bill) Wilham, 79, of Indianapolis transitioned on November 12, surrounded by family at home. He is survived by wife Judith, children Heather Wilham, Heidi Benson (Christopher), Derek Wilham (Ashaki), Christopher Wilham (Lakisha) and Kara Wilham, sisters Georgann McGill (Richard), Beth Fields, brother Ken Heatherly (Brenda), 11 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother Betty Strahl Heatherly, father George Heatherly, father Loren Wilham, and sister Nancy Cooper.

Bill graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in 1964, and earned a B.S. @ Purdue University Indianapolis in 1970. He was employed as a research chemist at Eli Lilly & Co. He coached cross-country and track at Ben Davis High School and Avon High School for many years. He originated the marathon and half marathon training program "Training for Life". He was a marathon and ultra-marathon runner, including 40+ marathons nationwide, 24 hour runs and the first 40 Indianapolis Mini-Marathons, many times pushing his daughter Heather in her wheelchair.

He was a long-time member of Chapel Rock Christian Church and a founding member of New Paradigm Christian Church.

Bill was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease in 2006, and advocated for Huntington's research. Memorial contributions can be made to HDSA of Indiana, https://indiana.hdsa.org. Celebration of life to be held Saturday, December 20 @ 9001 N. Fordham Street (College Park Clubhouse), 2:00-7:00 p.m..