MLB Legendary Umpire, LTHS Alum Bill Haller Dies

LOCKPORT, IL — Bill Haller, a Lockport native and renowned Major League Baseball umpire, died Aug. 20.

According to his obituary, an open house will be held Saturday at Brownstown VFW Post 9770 in Brownstown, Illinois. A service and burial will be held at a later date at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.

Haller was born on Feb. 28, 1935, in Joliet, to Frank and Julia Haller. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Joyce Ganz. His brother, Tom, who died in 2004, played Major League Baseball and also served as the Assistant General Manager of the Chicago White Sox and the General Manager of the San Francisco Giants.

Bill was raised in Fairmont, and graduated from Fairmont Grade School and Lockport Township High School.

In 2012, the Illinois House of Representatives honored Haller with a resolution for his many achievements.

According to the resolution, Haller was a three-sport athlete at LTHS, and also played basketball at Joliet Junior College.

Haller served in the U.S. Army for two years after he enlisted in 1955, including 16 months in Korea, the resolution states.

When he returned, he began umpiring in 1958 in a minor league in Florida and Georgia. He worked his way up to the International League in Triple A, and began his 20-year career as a Major League umpire in the American League in 1962.

According to the resolution, he umpired in four World Series in 1968, 1972, 1978 and 1981, as well as several All Star games and playoff games. He was even part of the first and only brother umpire/catcher combination, when his brother, Tom, caught for the Detroit Tigers against the Kansas City Royals in 1972.

Haller continued working for MLB as an assistant supervisor of umpires from 1983 to 1985, and then as a scout for the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.

He was also named one of the LTHS Legends of Basketball in 2007.

Haller is survived by his wife, Sally, son Albert (Amie) Haller, daughter Jenny (Doug Daniels) Patton; and grandchildren Kelsi, Sydney, Brooke, Jessy, Mitchell and Joshua.