Longtime Glenbard West football coach being remembered as 'great influence'

GLEN ELLYN – Longtime Glenbard West High School football coach William Duchon is being remembered for the impact he made on everyone he met.

Duchon died March 4 at the age of 88. As Glenbard West's head football coach, he led the Hilltoppers to a seven-year title run in the 1970s and a state championship run in 1976. After that season, he stepped down as head football coach and continued on as athletic director until his last year at Glenbard West in 1988.

"Coach Duchon will always be remembered as an important figure in Glenbard West history," Glenbard West Principal Peter Monaghan said in a statement. "He was a great influence on students and staff alike."

Duchon started his career at Glenbard West in 1961, retiring as the school's athletic director in 1988. In his honor, a football field at the school was renamed Duchon Field in 1980.

"Bill Duchon will always be remembered at West and will always be a part of our history," Monaghan said. "Hilltoppers everywhere send out their thoughts and prayers to his family and loved ones."

There will be a visitation for Duchon from 4 to 8 p.m. March 12 at Leonard Memorial Funeral Home & Cremations, 565 Duane St., Glen Ellyn.

A funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. March 13 at Saint Petronille Catholic Church, 420 Glenwood Ave., Glen Ellyn. Interment will be at Forest Hill Cemetery in Glen Ellyn.