Masonry Magazine February 1984 Page. 8
W.C. DENTINGER, JR.
Meet
MCAA's
New
President
As a successful mason contractor in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, Wis., Bill Dentinger firmly believes in being serious about business while having fun at the same time. "What's wrong with with mixing business with pleasure?" he asks. "No matter how serious or difficult the work is, there's always a lighter side to every situation, and I just like to take advantage of that fact."
His sharp wit, keen sense of humor and affable nature were graphically demonstrated several years ago when he took out an ad in the Milwaukee Sentinel. He advertised a "special on sports arenas-10% off." Although he had no takers, the tongue-in-cheek approach helped to establish his identity in the business community that eventually led to construction contacts and contracts.
Bill's interest and direct involvement in masonry industry affairs began some 20 years ago with the Mason Contractors Association of Milwaukee, which he served as an officer and a director three times. He also is a founding director of the Masonry Institute of Wisconsin, the industry's statewide promotional arm.
He is a director of the Allied Construction Employers Association, a federation of 18 industry trade associations in Milwaukee, chairing and serving on various committees, including chairmanship of the Laborer Bargaining Committee. He is a trustee of the Milwaukee Building Trades United Pension Trust Fund and chairman of its Eligibility Committee.
In 1981 Bill was named Construction Man of the Year by the Allied Construction Employers Association Industry Advancement Program, that group's most prestigious award.
Nationally, Bill has served the MCAA as a regional vice president, secretary and vice president, the post he held until his recent election as President for the 1984-86 term. In 1973 he was named MCAA's Outstanding Committee Chairman of the Year for his work on the Safety Committee which, in concert with MCAA's Material Handling Committee, was responsible for introducing a number of safety innovations in the masonry construction industry. Additionally, he is a Management Trustee of the International Masonry Institute.
Bill is 44 and formed his own company, Bill Dentinger, Inc., in 1975, doing commercial, industrial and institutional masonry subcontracting throughout Wisconsin. Before that, in 1961, after graduating from Marquette University High School and serving a four-year hitch in the Navy, he was a stockholder and secretary/treasurer of Superior Masonry Builders, Inc. in Milwaukee.
Bill and his wife, Shirley Jean, are the parents of four children: Peggy, 23; Bill, 22, a journeyman bricklayer: Dick, 21, and Kathy, 13. His long-standing hobbies include playing country music on his "very old" Gibson guitar, mixed-doubles tennis, and a friendly game of poker.
More recently he has added personal computer programming and collecting and racing vintage Triumph sports cars. He now has a stable of four of the sought-after machines-a 1949 2000 Roadster, a 1956 TR3, a 1959 TR3A, and a 1964 TR4.
"The '59 TR3A is a show car and one of the nicest in the country," he relates. "The '56 TR3 has a full-race engine, and I race it four or five times each summer against other vintage sports cars at Blackhawk Farms Raceway and Road America. My 13-year-old daughter Kathy crews for me, and last Father's Day we took a First Place and a Third Place out of four races."
The competitive edge and the "right stuff" are certainly apparent in the Dentinger family-attributes that are vital both to a business enterprise as well as a tightly knit family relationship. It only goes to prove that working hard and having fun are by no means incompatible. And Bill intends to keep it that way.