For one North Peoria dentist, shiny grills — the cooking kind, not the brace kind — are his passion.

Dr. Bill Cusack, 64, a periodontist, treats gum disease and works with dental implants at his 5013 N. University St. office in North Peoria. 

When Cusack is not working, he spends his time at his other business, a custom smoker and cooker shop in North Pekin.

“I started grilling because I come from a large family of 11 children,” Cusack said. “We would have big family reunions that would require quite a bit of cooking in large quantities.”

Growing up on his father’s farm at Oak Hill, Cusack said he first learned how to weld while repairing his father, Patrick’s, tractors.

Cusack made his first pig cooker and smoker as a high school student in 1969 at Spalding High School in Peoria, with the help of a classmate.

“I made the first one because of our large family cookouts,” Cusack said.

Cusack said he always enjoyed working with his hands, which led him to become a dentist.

Cusack attended the University of Illinois Dental School in Chicago and worked as a general dentist in both Dekalb and Anchorage, before receiving his degree as a periodontist.

Cusack also teaches a periodontist class at Illinois Central College in downtown Peoria.  

“It is a true joy to help people with their dental work,” Cusack said.

The same could be said of helping a customer buy a custom-made grill.

For more of this story see the 5/14 issue of the Peoria Times-Observer