Call Him Mr. Glass

His still hands carefully cut and solder the cracked supports of a battered piece of stained glass. Bill Klopsch, a stained-glass restorer, works steadily as he talks at his storefront location on, perhaps fittingly, Church Street.

"There really isn't a school to learn this sort of thing," Klopsch said. "You just kind of fall into it.

Despite a recession that has caused many of his competitors to go out of business, Klopsch finds himself busier than ever as he now draws clients from some of the most prestigious universities from across the country.

"I'm doing a major amount of restoration for Yale University in New Haven, [Connecticut], because over the years I have especially focused my work on larger windows," Klopsch said at his shop at 4656 W. Church St. "There are probably only five or six people in the Chicagoland area that do what I do."

In his career, he has helped restore aging windows at Northwestern University, Purdue University -- even stained glass from the Frank Lloyd Wright homes.

A Vietnam War pilot, Klopsch said that as much as he enjoyed flying, the military lifestyle wasn't for him. He also worked as a stockbroker, but left that and continued to search for something that truly made him happy.

"I realized I had always enjoyed doing things with my hands," he said. "I found a craft that is an unusual craft, not too many people practicing it. It was a happy accident."

Klopsch said most of the vintage stained glass was most likely made between 1870 and 1930. When the Depression brought stained-glass production to a halt, it did not fully resumed until after World War II. He said many of the returning soldiers were inspired by the European windows and wanted the same in their churches - thus enabling a comeback.

"[Stained glass] is too expensive to make these days," Klopsch said. "Back then, labor was cheap because all the immigrants would work for pretty much next to nothing."

Klopsch is currently scheduled to restore pieces in the Art Gallery at Yale University, which has has more than 170 windows — not all of them stained glass. He credits his reputation in helping him land the project.

Gail Wallace of Restoration Works Inc. in Bradley, IL, has worked with Klopsch for more than 25 years. Her company specializes in restoring antique windows and turns to Klopsch whenever she comes across stained glass.

"Bill is very familiar with older materials and a master craftsman," Wallace said. "I'd say he is one of the best stained glass restoration people in the world."

Yet Klopsch doesn't only work for prestigious schools. He beams when showing off examples of his complicated local work for the St. Augustine Episcopal Church, 1140 Wilmette Ave., in Wilmette.

Rev. David Musgrave, the church's rector, said he could see why Klopsch is so proud. The massive stained glass window, titled "Jesus and Children," rests just behind a podium where service is held.

"When [Klopsch first] looked at this window, it had holes, wooding problems and was just dirty from sitting there for so many year," said Musgrave. "It was a $35,000 job, but now it's three shades lighter."

Klopsch is most proud, however, of the projects he has done so well nobody notices his handiwork.

"If you're skilled and careful you can do a job that leaves glass looking beautiful," he said. "No one knows any work was done until one day someone has to take it apart."