Community & Lifestyle

R-LOU BARKER Dec. 18, 1933 – April 21, 2018Seeing the world with undying wonder A grand dame of the Springfield community passed from our lives this April. This woman had been a special friend to me for 30 years, sharing her joyful stories and her quiet wisdom. I was so fortunate to have been one […]

EARL LEROY THROOP, SR. July 22, 1944-June 20, 2018Big tree down Everybody called him “Throop,” like that was his first name. He was my tree guy for the past 30 years, as I nurtured properties in a neighborhood of big trees. I always enjoyed it when he’d arrive in his big new truck – no […]

PETER LAZARE April 16, 1952-Nov. 7, 2018“Have a pretty good day” Pete Lazare, almost always, was the smartest man in the room. He never made that clear. He spoke French. He read, a lot. His energy was boundless. He was a master of bad poetry and Springfield’s king of puns. As a businessman, he did […]

DANIEL J. “DANNY” HAWKS, JR. Oct. 17, 1945 – Sept. 25, 2018 A life well lived is filled with moments sweet and sad, with smiles and sometimes tears, with laughter and friendships, and with good times and hard times. My dad, Danny Hawks, always had a smile on his face and encouraged my brother, Evan, […]

REV. DR. MARCELLUS JULIAN LEONARD Sept. 19, 1939-Aug. 3, 2018He changed the banks of the river It’s a near certainty that at some point in our lives, each of us meets someone whose impact on us is profound. I am not talking about our grandparents. I am talking about someone who arrives as a complete […]

RUDOLPH DAVENPORT June 2, 1928-April 7, 2018“He always had an idea” Rudolph Davenport – everyone called him Rudy – wasn’t a boastful pillar. One of Springfield’s best-known civil rights activists, he was one of three black men, later joined by two additional plaintiffs, who went to court in the 1980s to force a change in […]

JILL CUNNINGHAM BLACK Oct. 25, 1944 – Nov. 2, 2018 State government lost one of its unsung heroes when Jill Black died on Nov. 2. For over 17 years when I ran the Illinois Lottery and the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), Jill was a trusted senior aide and confidant.   She fortunately never […]

WOODROW J. SHADID, SR. June 29, 1922-Oct. 4, 2018A bookseller who outdid expectations Shadid’s Book Mart, Springfield’s legendary downtown bookstore, outdid the expectations of most local observers by surviving for 14 years after the opening of the mall stores that should have put it out of business. I was not surprised therefore that Woody Shadid, […]

TIM LANDIS Nov. 19, 1951-Jan. 2, 2018A gentleman journalist Tim Landis was no joke as a journalist. Consider the lede in the first story he wrote for the State Journal-Register back in 1995: “Junk mail isn’t junk anymore.” Just five words and seven syllables. The story about escalating paper prices had everything a just-the-facts reporter, […]

CHARLEE WALTON March 10, 2011 – Jan. 19, 2018 KARLY PEARCE June 25, 2011 – Jan. 23, 2018Two little girls Sparkling blue eyes. Fabulous smiles. Mischievous little sisters. Though they never met in person, Karly Pearce and Charlee Walton had many similarities. Heartbreakingly, the 6-year-olds are linked for one more reason: their young lives were […]