William G. Hinkebein (Bill), oldest son of Sylvester and Stella (Pratt) Hinkebein was born on April 18, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri and passed away on July 13, 2023 at North Kansas City Hospital.
Bill was the oldest of 7 boys: his brothers are Alvin of Lewisville, Texas; Richard (Kay) of Wentzville, Missouri; Darrell (Debbie) of Nixa, Missouri; Kevin ( Valerie ) of Farmington, Missouri: Michael of Farmington, Missouri and sister-in-law Agnes Hinkebein of Farmington, Missouri. Other survivors are sisters-in-law Patricia (Robert Biggerstaff) of St. Louis, Missouri, Grace (Dennis Wagner) of Shell Knob, Missouri and brother-in-law Francis Pfaff (Pamela) of Farmington, Missouri. Bill is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
Bill was raised on a farm outside of Farmington, Missouri with his parents and six brothers. He attended elementary school at Valle Catholic School in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri and later at St. Joseph Elementary and High School in Farmington, Missouri. After high school he attended Flat River Junior College (now Mineral Area Community College) accomplishing his Associate Degree. Bill continued his education at the University of Missouri achieving two BS degrees in Animal Husbandry and Ag Education. He also has his Master’s Degree and Specialist Degree in Agriculture Education.
He started his teaching career in Windsor, Missouri from January 1966 to May of 1971 when he moved to Clinton Vocational School, Clinton, Missouri and stayed there until May of 1978. He then moved to Chillicothe, Missouri and taught agriculture at North Central Missouri College (NCMC) located in Trenton, Missouri. He stayed at NCMC as a full time teacher for 25 years and still remained as a part time educator up until his death. When he retired he had accumulated 37.5 years of full time classroom teaching. He enjoyed his students and wanted to instill in them a love of agriculture. Bill started the equine program at NCMC and always hoped to show the fun of riding horses into his students. For over 20 years, Bill and with the assistance of agriculture students at NCMC provided horseback riding classes to handicapped students in Trenton and Chillicothe areas.
On June 18, 1966 Bill married Jeanne Pfaff and to this union four children were born. The oldest William died 30 hours after birth due to being premature. The remaining living children and their families are: Julia Lynn (Jamie Reeter) children Jalynn of Arlington, TX; Josie, Jackson and Jessica of Chillicothe, Missouri; Christopher William (Tiffeny Dominique) Hinkebein daughters Maecy and Marin of Kansas City, Missouir; and Elizabeth Ann (Tony Heil) sons Joseph William (J.W.) and Jacob Edwin of Carrollton, Missouir. Bill and Jeanne spent many hours attending their children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events, band concerts, play productions, and 4H horse shows and competitions. They consider their family to be their greatest blessing.
In 1985, Bill began showing his horses in the North America Trail Ride Conference (NATRC). Over the years he accumulated over 14,000 miles of competition. He has numerous awards including National Championships on 10 different horses. No one in NATRC has ever achieved this distinction. The successes in NATRC involved an additional minimum of 14,000 miles of training and riding skills needed to attain this level of merit. Two of his greatest achievements was having his daughter, Elizabeth, ride with him and win first place in Region 6 Youth Division. Several years later two granddaughters would ride with him. At the end of the second season Bill, Jessica and Josie attained their National Championships and Jessica was number one in the Nation with Josie being in second place.
Along with NATRC competitions, Bill and his family attended a yearly trail ride held around Duke, Missouri in the beautiful Ozarks. By 2023 the entire family still attends this ride and will be receiving 45 years of attendance award to Bill, his wife, Jeanne and their three living children.
Preceding Bill in death were his parents, brother Gerald Hinkebein of Farmington, Missouri, sister-in-law Vivienne Hinkebein of Lewisville, Texas and infant son, William.
The funeral arrangement: visitation will be from 6 to 8 PM followed with the rosary on August 8, 2023 at Heritage Funeral Home and funeral Mass will be on August 9, 2023 at 11 AM at St. Columban Catholic Church. Burial will be at St. Columban Cemetery.
Instead of flowers memorials may be made to: North Central Missouri College Agricultural Department, St. Columban Catholic Church, or Pediatric Cancer Research.
