William Dean Sorensen, 73, of Owatonna, passed away peacefully on Monday, January 3, 2022, at Owatonna Hospital-Allina Health with family by his side. Bill was born at St. Lucas in Faribault, Minnesota on December 7, 1948, to Theodore and Lola (Quaintance) Sorensen. He grew up in the Medford area where he graduated from Medford High School in 1967. He was active with wrestling, baseball, and football during his high school years. After high school he worked at Honeywell in Minneapolis until he was drafted by the Army in June of 1968 and was deployed to serve in the Vietnam War. After returning from his deployment he received an honorary discharge in January of 1970 with a ranking of a SP5. After the discharge, he attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis for Engineering while working at Honeywell. Bill's love of sports continued for years after high school. He enjoyed playing fast-pitch softball, slow-pitch softball and also played 1 year with the Owatonna Aces baseball team. He also found plenty of time to go bowling, golfing, and playing broomball. On December 19, 1970, Bill married the love of his life, Linda Heiderscheidt, and with this union they had three children. The couple resided in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota until 1971 when they moved to Medford, Minnesota to start their life together. Bill worked for Concrete Materials and was the Manager of Erickson gas station until being hired as a full time Engineer with the Owatonna Fire Department in 1978. He spent the next 23 years with the fire department and retired in 2001. During his years at the Fire Department he also had a hobby farm and would rent land to grow crops and hay for his animals. He continued farming until 1998 when he decided to sell the cows and purchase a boat. During retirement he enjoyed his golf membership to Brooktree golf course and golfed as often as possible. He also enjoyed fishing and hunting at his cabin in Ray, Minnesota with his family. He rarely missed a deer opener or a fishing opener. He enjoyed spending time with friends and family boating and fishing on Lake Kabetogama. Family meant everything to Bill, and he loved spending time with his grandchildren. He enjoyed watching his Grandsons play football and would attend their wrestling matches. Also, he would travel to Hibbing to attend his Granddaughters dance recitals. He also enjoyed gardening with his wife and tinkering with his lawn/garden toys. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Linda Sorensen of Owatonna; children: Todd (Misty) Sorensen of Kasson, Melissa (John) Bougalis of Hibbing, and Jeremy Sorensen of Owatonna; Grandchildren: Timothy Carver, Matt Sorensen, Ava and Alexa Bougalis; siblings: Wanita Wilkie of Medford, Ted (Arlene) Sorensen of Owatonna, Mike (Jan) Sorensen of Medford, Deb Ellis of Claremont, Darla (John) Berg of Claremont. He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters; Gloria Hokanson, and LaJean Sorensen; great-granddaughter, River Carver; brothers-in-law: Paul Hokanson, Calvin Wilkie, and Ron Ellis. Memorial service will be held at Michaelson Funeral Home on January 22, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. with a visitation one hour prior to service. There will also be a time of fellowship and sharing after the service. Interment will be held at a later date.