Remembering

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 […]

TECUMSAY JUMO ROBERTS, SR. Sisters Gifty Smith and Yarvo Roberts say their childhood home in Liberia was so full of familiar faces that they didn’t know which people were actual relatives. “Those in need came to our house and my parents would find a way to get them whatever they lacked. Dad was always helping […]

Dr. David Sumner of Springfield was a renowned surgeon, academic and artist. One of his paintings, at right, depicts the Rue Dauphine, a well-known street in Paris, France. A beautiful Parisian streetscape, a sailboat race on the North Carolina coast, and a peaceful snowfall on frozen Lake Springfield: Those picturesque scenes and many more were […]

MARK ALEXANDER MACDONALD “isn’t easy being a man / all those lines we paint / to the endless amusement / of those who live between them” – from Mark’s poem “Lines” Mark visited Illinois the year the Mississippi flooded. As a participant in the 1993 World Free Fall Convention in Quincy, he took a Springfield […]

NORMA JEAN THOMPSON Spending a lifetime as a devoted wife, mother and grandmother is a small snapshot into why my mom is special to me. We shared a special bond. I would start thinking of her and the phone would ring and it would be her calling. I would call her and she would say, […]

WILLIAM C. SHEA Remember when the Nazis tried to take over the world? Mr. Shea was one of many who answered the call to prevent that from becoming a reality, as part of the D-day invasion. Remember when you needed gas in your car or the oil checked on your engine? Bill Shea was the […]

About the issue Our annual end-of-year obituary issue offers in-depth portraits and personal remembrances of just a few of the hundreds who have passed from the Springfield scene this year. There is no attempt to be comprehensive, or even representative; these are people who have come to the attention of our writers, and others who […]

VIVIAN EDNA MCGINNIS She fought like a girl but lost. My beautiful daughter, Vivian Edna (Raridon) McGinnis, was born June 26, 1959 to Richard and Evelyn (Bumgardner) Raridon of Middletown. She went to school at Middletown for two years, then attended Chester East Lincoln for seven years. Her parents moved to San Antonio, Texas, where […]

RICHARD ROGER “DICK” MORSE Dick Morse of Springfield was “green” before it was even a thing. The influential architect helped create a community of environmentally conscious designers and participated in the renovation of numerous historic buildings in Springfield, leaving a legacy of revitalization. Morse died on May 28, 2013, at age 69. Richard Roger Morse […]

KEITH LARKIN TAYLOR A host of prominent Illinois politicos attended the July 16 memorial service for Keith Taylor. Among them were Attorney General Lisa Madigan, former Attorney General Neil Hartigan, former Senate President Tom Hynes and his son, former Comptroller Dan Hynes. The younger Hynes gave a moving tribute to Taylor, who had squired Hynes […]

HENRY KRUG III Henry Krug III was unique in many ways, but the most remarkable thing about him was the number of lives he touched while living, by his own choice, the simplest life he could. Born to a modest family, he married his high school sweetheart. Henry served in Vietnam as a member of […]