Remembering

CECIL KENNETH “TUCK” BELTON Tuck Belton’s fifth mission over northern Germany in January 1945 was supposed to be a snap, the bomber pilot from Jerome later recalled, with neither antiaircraft fire nor enemy fighters expected. Expectations proved wrong. Belton’s B-17 was hit by fire from the ground as he guided the aircraft to the target. […]

Coleen Marie Ishmael In most families, after the patriarch and the matriarch have passed on, there is one shining beacon to bring everyone home again, especially around the holidays. The one family member determined to keep the home fires burning. To keep the hearth warm and inviting, to remind the other family members of holidays […]

About the issue Here once again is our “Remembering” issue. We devote the last issue of the year to in-depth obituaries of some of the local people who have died in the past year. There is no attempt to be comprehensive, or even representative; these are people who have come to the attention of our […]

ADOLPH GEORGE COLIN Adolph George Colin was born Oct. 12, 1929, in Hollywood, California, to parents of French ancestry. The family made its way to Springfield when he was seven years old, and he graduated from Lanphier High School. His father was a coal miner. After working for the local Pillsbury plant in Springfield for […]

KEITH RICHARD RODERICK Keith Roderick was no ordinary preacher. On the one hand, he served as a priest in Episcopalian parishes throughout central and southern Illinois, low-key enough that his name rarely appeared in local media outside announcements of weddings and funerals he oversaw. He had six children, ranging from a son on the cusp […]

JOHN BERT WALLENSTEIN John Wallenstein is one of those people you meet who was private. But as you became acquainted with John, you discovered he was friendly, highly professional and took joy in exceeding the expectations of his job. His last position was as director of community affairs and marketing at WUIS Public Radio. At […]

Preston Levon McCrary Sr. I knew Mr. Preston at the earliest of ages; he was my dad’s (James Thomas Woodson) best friend and neighbor, and in childhood, his daughter, Cheryl, was my best friend as well. Needless to say, I loved him and, more importantly, liked him, too. Though I am unable to do his […]

DAVID TEMPLETON KENNEY A first impression of David Kenney revealed a fraction of the man. He was mild-mannered, openly friendly, never cursed, and his manners were almost Victorian. To those who discovered his career as a university professor, he came across as a kind of southern Illinois version of Mr. Chips, the character from British […]

Evelyn Lee White Alexander Evelyn Lee Alexander, 78, of Neoga, Illinois, passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014, after a long battle against pancreatic cancer. She was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Ash Grove Township, Shelby County, in rural Neoga. Evelyn graduated valedictorian of Neoga High School Class of 1954. Upon […]

JUHLANN DAVIS GIBBS Juhlann Davis Gibbs was a woman steeped in family history: her family had been residents of central Illinois for nearly 200 years. Yet as much as she appreciated where she came from, ultimately Juhlann’s greatest joy came in the legacy she left for the future: her three granddaughters. Juhlann’s great-great grandfather, David […]

MARGE ROTH The local theater community lost one of its finest treasures this past February when our beloved friend, Marge Roth, passed away suddenly. Marge was a talented costumer for local theater groups, but she was so much more than that. She was a friend, health care professional, parent, grandparent, volunteer, leader, confidant, counselor and […]

ALAN JOHN DIXON To the Illinois political world he was “Al the Pal.” During his 42 years as an elected public official he had the broadest grin around. He signed his letters “Your friend,” whether they were friends or not. By his own account he may have consumed more beer than the Anheuser and Busch […]